Schoolgirl Alchemist
by sillystringg
Summary: Ed is given a mission to pose as a student at an all ladies' school! With the help of a certain evil teacher, he manages to learn the ways of the fairer. But what happens when the person you love stands in the way of your work?
1. The Mission

**Schoolgirl Alchemist**

by: Special K aka the Chewing Gum Alchemist

Note: I did not create FMA or any of the characters... of course!

Other note: Sorry about all the confusion with this fic! Thanks for putting up with me!

Chapter 1

Edward Elric wandered down a busy street in Central, his hands shoved in his pockets. He stared blankly at the ground beneath him as he shuffled onward. His brother Alphonse walked behind him silently, his brother's coat draped over his arm. Al was full of questions but remained silent, for the look on his older brother's face said it all. The two boys were about to pay a visit to the colonel. Ed yawned and covered his mouth with his automail hand, the metal shining in the bright sunlight. It was 8:00 AM - a bit too early for Ed.

"Brother?" Al began, his voice echoing off of the hollow armor. "Why are we going to see the colonel?"

Ed turned and faced his brother with a raised eyebrow. "I never said we were going to see Mustang."

"Well... aren't we?" Al asked.

"Yeah, he said he had a mission for me," Ed said as he turned back around and started walking again. Al knew that Ed hated to get up this early, but the fact that he got up for Colonel Mustang made it even worse. Al stared down at his brother while he wondered where the mission would lead them this time. Finally the two boys reached the military headquarters. They wandered through the halls until they found the colonel's office. Ed sighed as he knocked on the door loudly.

"Come in," a masculine voice called from inside the room. Ed and Al entered the room to find Colonel Roy Mustang sitting at his desk. His dark eyes followed the boys as they sat down in the chairs on the opposite side of the desk.

"What do you want? Let's just get it over with already..." Ed said, crossing his arms across his chest.

"Nice to see you too, Fullmetal," Mustang replied with a smile.

"Please excuse him, Colonel, he's just tired," Al said in Ed's defense. Ed mumbled something that was inaudible to any of them and sunk down deeper in the chair.

"I can see that, Al," Mustang said while placing his hands on the desk, "but that isn't an excuse for quitting this mission."

"So what are you laying on me this time?" Ed asked before brushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"Here," the colonel handed Ed a small stack of papers, smiling as he did. Ed read the first page quickly and looked up when he was done.

"Vital military documents have gone missing?" Ed asked. "Doesn't sound like your sort of problem."

"No, but it sounds like yours," Mustang said. "Those documents are on the Philosopher's Stone, and I need you to recover them asap."

"Fine. Where do I go?" Ed said reluctantly, laying the papers on the desk as he spoke.

A large smile crossed Mustang's face as he said, "St. Helen's School for Girls." These words seemed to wake Ed up, for his eyes widened.

"Say WHAT?" he said loudly.

"You heard me, Fullmetal. It's a strict all-girls school in the west, and you'll be going there to get these documents," Mustang said calmly. "I've enrolled you already, so there's no backing out now."

"What about me, Colonel?" Al asked. "Can I go with Brother?"

"I'm afraid not," Mustang said, his gaze turning to Al. "Ed will have to stay in a girl's dorm, and there's no way we can pass you off as a girl."

"Yet you can pass ME off as a girl!" Ed said angrily.

"Of course," Mustang replied. "Just look at your hair. I mean, it's only past your shoulders..."

"That's not the point!" Ed argued, standing up.

"Wait a minute, Colonel," Al said. "Brother may be able to pull off a girl's look, but when it comes to acting like a girl, he's hopeless!"

"True..." Mustang said. "That's why Lieutenant Hawkeye will be teaching you for the next few days. By the end of this week, you'll be a real girl, Fullmetal."

"You're joking, right? This is all just a bad dream..." Ed mumbled to himself. The door behind him opened, and he turned to see Riza Hawkeye enter the room. She had a large bag in her hands and a small smile on her face.

"Are you ready, Edward?" she asked cheerfully. Ed stared at her with his mouth open.

"You CAN'T be serious!" Ed yelled before Lieutenant Hawkeye took him by the arm and pulled him towards the door.


	2. Dress Up Time

Schoolgirl Alchemist

Chapter 2

Al sat silently in the military break room, staring at the bathroom door. About 20 minutes before, Hawkeye had led Ed into the bathroom, leaving Al alone in the break room. Finally the door opened, and Hawkeye emerged from the bathroom, a thin smile on her lips.

"Ready to see your sister, Al?" she asked as Al stood up. The lieutenant seemed to be enjoying herself, and Al had to admit that it was a bit scary.

"Sure, bring her out!" Al said, a smile in his voice. Hawkeye turned back to the bathroom door.

"Edward, come out here. Your brother would love to see his older sister!" Hawkeye called.

"There's no way you're getting me out of this bathroom!" Ed yelled back.

"Fine," was all that Hawkeye said. She reached for the gun on her belt and aimed it into the bathroom.

"Alright, alright! I'm coming!" Ed said. Hawkeye opened the door wider, revealing Ed. Al barely recognized his brother. Ed's hair was down, and his bangs were curled under. His face was painted heavily with make-up, while his body was clothed in a girl's school uniform.

"Wow, Brother," Al said with laughter in his voice. "You're looking very lovely today." Ed glared at Al angrily but remained silent.

"Here comes the hard part," Hawkeye said with a frown. "You have to learn how to act like a girl."

Ed sighed and sat down on the couch that Al previously was on. Hawkeye sighed and placed her hands on his knees. Ed looked up in confusion, and Hawkeye forced his legs together.

"Lesson 1: Always close your legs when you sit down," she said calmly. "You don't want anyone to look up your skirt, do you?" Ed's face turned slightly pink as Hawkeye continued, "You know as well as I do that I can't do this alone, so I've asked a friend of mine to lend me her daughter to help me." She looked over at the clock on the wall and smiled. "She'll be here any minute now."

"Great, another person to see me in a skirt," Ed mumbled.

"Aw, c'mon Brother! You look great in your skirt," Al said, unable to keep from laughing. A sudden knock at the door made them all turn to face it.

"Who knocks on the break room door?" Ed asked as the door opened.

"I think I can knock on any door I want," A girl came in and smiled at Ed, crossing her arms as she did. Her long dark brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail and her blue eyes shone with confidence. "Listen up, Lieutenant Hawkeye and I are calling the shots now. You have a long way to go and very little time to get there, so we need to get started." She walked towards Ed and stopped when she reached him. She took a moment to study him

and held out her hand. "Kaylen Osdal."

_Who the hell does this girl think she is?_ Ed wondered as he shook Kaylen's hand. "Edward Elric."

"Really?" Kaylen asked as she placed her hands on her hips. "You look more like an Emily to me."

"What?" Ed asked. "Why do you say that?"

"Well, one, you're wearing a skirt, and two, that's the name on your application," Kaylen answered. Ed looked away, and Kaylen faced Hawkeye with a smile.

"Nice to see you again, Kaylen," Hawkeye said as Kaylen walked over to her.

"Same here, Ms. Riza," Kaylen said before noticing Al. She smiled and walked up to him slowly. "And who might you be?" she asked him.

"Alphonse Elric. I'm Ed's brother," Al said as he shook Kaylen's hand.

"Oh, it must be tough having a younger brother like him," Kaylen said, glancing at Ed with a smile.

"Accually, he's my older brother," Al said quietly.

"You're joking! Shorty is your big brother?" Kaylen asked as she faced Ed.

"Who are you calling as small as a speck of dust that you can't even see!" Ed yelled, jumping to his feet.

"You're losing your touch, big brother," Al said, shaking his head.

"Really? It's hard to come up with new material these days..." Ed said quietly.

"Wha--?" Kaylen started, but was quickly cut off by Hawkeye.

"It doesn't matter anyway, so can we just get on with this?" Hawkeye said loudly.

"Right!" Kaylen said as she smiled at Ed.

"I've got a bad feeling about this..." Ed mumbled as he prepared for the worst.


	3. The Evil Teacher's Exam

Schoolgirl Alchemist

Chapter 3

5 days later, Kaylen was convinced that she had taught Ed all that he needed to know. She had not only made Ed wear the uniform every day, but she also forced him to wash it every night. On the sixth day, Ed came into the military headquarters with his uniform already on. He also had done his make-up and hair. _Okay, I officially no longer have any pride whatsoever_, Ed thought to himself as he made his way to the break room. There he found Kaylen sitting alone on the couch, a cup of coffee in her hands. She looked up at him and smiled. Ed noticed that her eyes seemed softer, somewhat friendlier, and smiled back.

"Edward, you look lovely today." Kaylen said, setting her coffee down.

"Thanks, I think," Ed answered quietly.

"It's final exam day, you know..." Kaylen said.

"What sort of abnormal torture is this final exam?" Ed asked as he sat down beside her.

"You have to act like a full-fledged girl for the entire day, starting at 10:00." Kaylen said. Ed glanced over at the clock, which read 9:45.

"Entire day being until when?" Ed asked as he looked back at Kaylen. Kaylen looked down and appeared to be thinking. Finally she looked up and smiled at Ed.

"5:00. Think you can do it, Emily?" She asked.

"Are you joking? It's 9:45 AM, I'm extremely tired, I've got an empty bladder, a full stomach, half an idea of what I'm doing, and I'm wearing a skirt," Ed said quickly. "I think I'll be fine."

"We'll see," Kaylen said as she picked up her coffee cup and took another sip. She held the cup out to Ed when she was done and asked, "Want some?"

"Sure," Ed said as he took the cup from Kaylen. "I'll wipe the lipstick off when I'm done." He added before taking a long drink of the coffee.

"Don't worry about it," Kaylen said with a smile.

"Technically, I have about 15 minutes until I have to start being girly, right?" Ed asked as he handed the cup back to Kaylen. Kaylen nodded before setting the cup down on the table.

"Hey, Ed," Kaylen began quietly, "if you don't mind me asking, how did you lose your arm and leg?" Ed looked down and sighed. It was a touchy subject, and he hated admitting his mistakes. Ed leaned back and lifted up his right sleeve, revealing the metal that was his arm.

"Well, a long time ago, Al and I tried to bring our mother back to life with alchemy. We were just stupid little kids who thought we could bend the world anyway we wanted... Anyway, we screwed up. I only lost my leg, but Al lost his whole body," Ed explained to a wide-eyed Kaylen.

"And then what?" Kaylen asked quietly.

"Well, then I gave up my arm to put Al's soul in that armor, and here we are," Ed finished with a look at Kaylen, who shook her head faintly.

"I had no idea..." she said. "If you'd told me that earlier, I might've gone easier on you."

"I doubt it," Ed said with a laugh. "Okay, you asked about me, so it's only fair that I ask about you, right?"

"I guess... Fire away," Kaylen said before drinking more of her coffee.

"How did you end up here, teaching me to be girly?" Ed asked as he placed his feet on the table in front of the couch.

"My mom is friends with Lietenant Hawkeye. Ms. Riza said she needed help teaching a boy to be a girl so that he could come to my school. I thought she was crazy at first, but then I got here and found that she was telling the truth after all." Kaylen said.

"Wait a minute! If you go to that school, then why can't you just get the documents instead of me?" Ed asked angrily.

"It's your mission. Can't back out now." Kaylen stood up as she said this and stretched. "And do you really want all my teaching to go down the drain?" Ed sighed and closed his eyes, unable to think of a comeback. Kaylen touched Ed on his shoulder and smiled down at him. Ed looked up at her with tired eyes and returned her smile.Suddenly, the door opened, and Al came into the room.

"What are you making Brother do for his final, Kaylen?" he asked as he walked towards them.

"He's gotta be a girl all day," Kaylen said, her gaze turning to Al. "Simple enough, right?"

"I suppose, but I doubt he can do it," Al answered.

"What? Sure I can do it!" Ed said loudly.

"He still has 10 minutes until his test begins," Kaylen said with a glance at the clock. Ed smiled and cleared his throat.

"But Miss Kaylen!" Ed said in his best girl voice, which suprisingly sounded very much like a girl's, "I'm ready to begin the test now!"

"You might want those 10 minutes, Brother," Al said, "Winry's here to see you." Ed looked up suprised.

"Winry? What's she doing here?" Ed said, certain that he was blushing. It was one thing to be wearing a skirt, but for the girl you adore to see you in it was a totally different story.

"I told her about your mission and asked her to come out today," Al said, a smile lingering in his voice.

"Of course. Remind me to thank you later, Al," Ed said with an angry look at his brother.

"Who's this Winry person?" Kaylen asked Al. "Ed's girlfriend?"

"For the last time, she is NOT my girlfriend!" Ed said, changing the receiver of his glare to Kaylen.

"Well, sorry... I didn't know," Kaylen said, looking down as she spoke.

"Go get her, would you? I really don't want to go back out like this until I have to," Ed said to Al.

"Sure, be right back," Al said before leaving the room. Ed and Kaylen were alone again, but this time the air was filled with awkward silence. Kaylen finally looked up at Ed with sad eyes.

"You blushed when Al mentioned her name. That's why I thought..." she stopped mid-sentence, something she'd never done before. Ed shook his head and smiled at her.

"You still worried about that? It doesn't matter," Ed said as the door swung open, revealing Winry's smiling face. She came into the room and studied Ed.

"Edward Elric, I never thought I'd say this, but you look very pretty today," Winry said.

_It's gonna be a long day,_ Ed thought to himself with a sigh.


	4. Suprise Visitor

Schoolgirl Alchemist

Chapter 4

The 10 minutes before Ed's exam were just enough to explain the mission to Winry and introduce her to Kaylen. Kaylen could already tell that she didn't like Winry, but she tried to be nice anyway.

"Kaylen Osdal," Kaylen said as she shook Winry's hand. Winry smiled at her, but Kaylen didn't return the gesture. Instead, she turned to Ed with a smile. "Guess what time it is, Emily..."

"10:00..." Ed said in his girly voice. Winry stared at Ed, smiling.

"Aww, you're so cute like that, Ed!" Winry said, tugging at Ed's left arm. Kaylen sighed and walked out of the open door behind her. Al followed to find her standing in the hallway.

"Something wrong, Kaylen?" Al asked as he stood beside her.

"I don't like that girl," Kaylen said quietly.

"Winry? Why don't you like her?" Al asked curiously.

"I don't really know," Kaylen said, looking down as she spoke.

"Kaylen?" Ed said as he and Winry joined them in the hall. Kaylen smiled and looked up at Ed.

"Your voice..." she said, and Ed frowned.

"...Kaylen," he repeated, remembering his role, "is something wrong?"

"No, but if you slip up again there'll be something wrong with you," Kaylen said as she began to walk away. "Al, will you watch him for me? There's something I need to do alone."

"Sure," Al said as Kaylen turned the corner, disappearing from his sight.

"She's a bit odd, don't you think?" Winry asked.

"No, she just has a lot on her plate," Al said in Kaylen's defense.

"Yeah, and this mission isn't helping her at all," Ed added in his girly voice.

"You can relax, Ed," Al said. "I won't tell Kaylen..."

"I have to learn to talk like this all the time anyway," Ed replied. "Might as well start now, right?"

Kaylen slowly made her way to Colonel Mustang's office. _I can't believe that I forgot to call Mom this morning, _she thought as she knocked on the office door.

"Come in," Mustang called from inside. Kaylen entered the room to find Mustang at his desk and Hawkeye at her own desk. An unfamilliar man sat with them, a cigarette dangling from his mouth. Kaylen smiled at them and then turned to the colonel.

"Kaylen, nice to see you this morning," Mustang said. "You need something?"

"Yes, sir," Kaylen said. "I'd like to use your phone." Mustang pointed to the phone on the edge of his desk as Kaylen crossed the room.

"What's wrong with the phone in the hall, Kaylen?" Hawkeye asked as Kaylen picked up the receiver.

"I'd rather the world didn't hear my conversation, Ms. Riza," Kaylen replied as she dialed the number.

"Calling your mother, are you?" Hawkeye said with a smile. Kaylen didn't respond but instead listened to the ringing of the phone.

"Hello?" Kaylen's mother said on the other end.

"Hi, Mom," Kaylen said, a smlie on her lips.

"Kaylen, how are you this morning?"

"I'm fine, how about you?"

"I'm doing better. You called later today, did something happen?"

"No, Mom, I just forgot. I'm really sorry."

"It's alright, Kaylen."

"I've got something that I need to do now, so I'll call back later, alright?"

"Alright, bye."

"Bye, Mom," were Kaylen's last words into the phone before she hung it up. "Thank you, Colonel."

"No problem," Mustang replied. Kaylen walked over to where Hawkeye and the stranger sat.

"Kaylen, have you met Lieutenant Havoc before?" Hawkeye asked, gesturing to the man across from her. Kaylen shook her head, and the man held out his hand.

"Name's Jean Havoc," he said with a smile. Kaylen shook his hand and returned his smile.

"Kaylen Osdal. It's nice to meet you, Lieutenant Havoc," she said. "Have you seen our masterpiece yet?"

"Masterpiece?" Havoc asked. "What masterpiece?"

"He hasn't," Hawkeye said with a smile. "Why don't you go introduce him?"

"Of course. Come along, Lieutenant," Kaylen said, leading Havoc to the door.

"Hey, where are we going?" Havoc asked as Kaylen opened the door.

"You'll see," Kaylen said, smiling


	5. Havoc's Request

Schoolgirl Alchemist

Chapter 5

Kaylen led Lieuteant Havoc down the hall and to the place where Ed, Al, and Winry waited. Ed frowned when he saw them coming.

"Are you serious?" he mumbled under his breath.

"So you and the lieutenant dressed Fullmetal up as a girl and are making him go to a girl's school?" Havoc asked, still somewhat confused.

"Yep," Kaylen said. "I'm testing him now, so he's talking and acting like a girl for the day."

"Man, the other guys would love to see this..." he said, smiling.

"So, what do you think, Lieutenant?" Kaylen asked, gesturing to Ed.

"You guys did pretty good," Havoc said. "If I didn't know any better, I'd think he was a real girl."

"You still want to do this?" Kaylen asked.

"Sure. I haven't been on a date in so long, I don't think I mind that it's with Fullmetal." Havoc said quietly before they reached Ed, Al, and Winry. Ed looked like he was ready to die, while Al and Winry were laughing behind him.

"Emliy, the lieutenant would like to meet you," Kaylen said, smiling.

"Hello, Miss Emily," Havoc said with a smile. "I'm Lieutenant Havoc."

_I know damn well who you are, _Ed thought as he forced a smile.

"I'd like you to join me for lunch today. Is that alright?" Havoc asked. Ed shot a look at Kaylen, who simply smiled back.

"Um... sure," Ed said, trying to sound girly and natural at the same time.

"Great! Can I meet you at 11:30 then?" Havoc asked. Ed nodded, and Havoc turned and walked away. When he was out of earshot, Ed turned to Kaylen angrily.

"I hate you," he said quietly. Kaylen smiled at him.

"No you don't," she replied evenly.

"Yes, I do! Why the hell did you do that?" Ed said a bit louder.

"Well, you didn't have to agree to it," Kaylen said.

"She has a point, Edward," Winry said from behind Ed. Ed sighed when he realized that they were right.

"Why did I say yes?" he asked no one in particular. Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder and realized that it was Winry's.

"You're just a good kid, Edward," she said, smiling sweetly at Ed, "even if you are a girl on the outside." Ed frowned, unsure if this was a compliment or an insult.

"This part of the test is supposed to test your skills in public," Kaylen explained. "And don't worry - Havoc knows what he's doing."

"How'd you talk him into it?" Al asked as they began their way back to the break room.

"Simple. I just asked him to do it, and he agreed," Kaylen replied. Al held the door open for everyone as they went into the break room. Kaylen smiled up at Al before she entered the room. Al silently watched her walk into the room, wishing that he could've smiled back. Ed and Winry sat together on the couch, leaving Kaylen and Al with no choice but to stand. Winry began to run her fingers through Ed's hair.

"Did you do this yourself?" she asked as Ed blushed slightly.

"Um... yeah. Sucks, doesn't it?" he replied. Winry shook her head and smiled at him. Kaylen looked up at Al with anger in her eyes.

"Not his girlfriend, huh?" she whispered, and Al sighed. The truth was that his brother accually did like Winry more than he wanted to admit, but he was too shy to tell her. Kaylen folded her arms together and watched them carefully. Al could tell that she was a bit jealous and thought that maybe she had just become really attatched to Ed.

"If you're going on a date, you need to fix your make-up, right?" Winry asked, placing a finger on Ed's bottom lip. Ed could feel his heart racing as he nodded faintly. Winry pulled her finger away, lipstick coming off with it. She smiled as she said, "Oops... I messed up your lipstick. Let me fix it..."

"No, I can do it," Ed started to say, but became speechless when Winry began moving closer to him.

"Please... let me," Winry whispered before she kissed him lightly, making Ed blush bright red.

"I... um..." Ed said quietly, unsure of what to say.

"No, I'm serious. I really need to fix it now," Winry said, pulling Ed up by the hand. Ed glanced back at Kaylen before disappearing into the bathroom with Winry. Kaylen stared at the door sadly, unaware that Al's hand was on her shoulder.

"I don't know why I'm so upset, Al..." Kaylen said quietly, still staring at the door. They both remained silent, waiting on Ed and Winry to emerge.

_I don't know why I'm upset, either,_ Al thought to himself.


	6. Teenage Love

SGA

Chapter 6

Winry took her time doing Ed's make-up, wanting to be alone with him as long as she could. Ed sat on the counter facing Winry silently, unsure of how to phrase the question that he wanted to ask. Finally, he just came out and said it.

"Winry, how come you're like this all of a sudden?" Ed asked quickly.

"What do you mean?" Winry replied as she outlined Ed's eyes in eyeliner.

"Well..." Ed was at a loss for words again. "You know, acting like you like me or something..."

"Because I do like you, Edward," Winry said, smiling. When she was satisfied with her work, Winry leaned in and kissed Ed quickly so that she wouldn't disturb the lipstick on his lips.

"But..." Ed started as he stood up.

"But what?" Winry asked, wrapping her arms arround Ed's waist.

"When did all this happen?" Ed asked as he placed his arms arround Winry.

"I'm not so sure," Winry said quietly. "I've wanted to see you so bad these past few weeks, so when Al called I jumped on the next train out here. And when I saw you today... I couldn't control myself anymore. You know that skirt really does look good on you..."

"Sure does," Ed replied with a smile. Suddenly, he remembered Al and Kaylen in the other room and pulled away from Winry slowly. "We can't keep them waiting anymore,"

"Don't forget your voice," Winry said before they left the bathroom. Ed suddenly frowned, for he realized that he had said quite a bit to Winry before they went in the bathroom in his normal voice. _Kaylen'll kill me!_ They found Kaylen asleep and Al sitting next to her on the couch silently. Al didn't seem to notice that they had entered the room, for his eyes rested on the sleeping Kaylen.

"Al?" Ed said, startling Al and making him look up.

"Brother, that took forever! Were you two really doing make-up in there?" Al asked, making Ed smile.

"Yes, we were," Winry said. "Just look how pretty he is now!"

"Yeah..." Al said, his eyes falling back on Kaylen.

"How long has she been asleep?" Ed asked, gesturing to Kaylen.

"A few minutes," Al replied quietly. "She seemed really upset... " Ed looked down and couldn't help but think that the reason Kaylen was upset was because of him. He walked over to the couch and stared down at Kaylen, who looked peaceful for the first time in days.

"I feel like we've known her forever," Ed said quietly. Al nodded as Winry joined them at the couch. Suddenly, Kaylen opened her eyes and sat up slowly.

"What's up with the staring?" Kaylen asked with a smile. "I got somethin' on my face?"

"Kaylen," Ed said, remembering his voice, "I'm sorry for earlier. Can I still bring my grade up?"

"What?" Kaylen asked, confused.

"Well, one, I used my normal voice for a little while, and two, I don't think I'm allowed to be a lesbian, am I?" Ed said, and Kaylen laughed.

"I think you can be a lesbian if you want to," she said, "and do good on your date and I'll bring your grade up." Ed smiled at Kaylen as she stood up. "What time is it?" she asked.

"11:00," Al said, standing up also.

"Oh," Kaylen said and sat back down. The other three stared down at her, confused. "What's with all the damn staring?" she asked loudly.

"Are you alright, Kaylen?" Al asked softly.

"Yeah, why?" Kaylen replied quietly. Ed and Winry exchanged smiles, and Kaylen realized what Al was asking her. She smiled at him sadly, and that alone answered his question.

"Hey, where am I supposed to meet Havoc?" Ed asked Kaylen.

"Here, I think," Kaylen answered, "but you need to run by Mustang's office anyway."

"I'd rather drop dead," Ed said quietly. "Why do I need to see him?"

"He has the clue... and I think he'd love to see you in that outfit," Kaylen replied, gesturing to Ed's skirt.

"Clue?" Ed asked, confused.

"The guy who took the Philosopher's Stone documents sent a clue a few days ago," Kaylen said. "You need it to find them or something..." Ed sighed as he and Winry headed for the door, their arms locked.

"I better get serious extra credit for this..." Ed said before leaving the room, Winry at his side.

"Kaylen, are you..." Al began, searching for the words to use.

"Am I what?" Kaylen asked as Al sat down next to her.

"Are you jealous of Winry?" Al finally asked, making Kaylen look down.

"I don't know. I guess part of me is, but only because I'll never be able to be like that with a guy again..." Kaylen said quietly. "You guys are like my brothers, and I don't want to see you hurt. Does that make any earthly sense at all?"

"Yeah, it does," Al said. "I feel the same way, accually," Kaylen looked up as Al continued, " I don't want you to be hurt by something that either me or my brother did. I guess that's why I don't want Ed to do this mission. I won't be there to apologize for him."

Kaylen smiled as she said, "Don't worry. I'll keep him in line."


	7. The First Clue

SGA

Chapter 7

Ed and Winry walked silently down the hall towards Mustang's office. Ed suddenly noticed that their arms were still locked and pulled his away quickly. Winry looked at Ed sadly and sighed.

"I really don't want to see this guy," Winry said quietly as they approached Mustang's office.

"I understand," Ed answered, stopping in front of the office door. "You can go back to the break room if you want." Winry shook her head and smiled.

"It's okay. I know that you don't want to see him either," she answered before knocking on the door.

"It's open," Mustang called from inside. Ed reluctantly entered the room, his freshly painted lips turned down in a frown. Mustang covered his mouth with a gloved hand as Ed aproached him slowly, followed by Winry.

"You make a lovely girl, Edward," Mustang said with a smile.

"Look, just give me the damn clue," Ed said, anger in his girl voice.

"Is that any way for a lady to speak?" Mustang asked, still smiling.

"If she's pissed, yes," Ed replied as Mustang pulled out a small sheet of paper. He handed it to Ed, who read it quickly. "What is this?" Ed asked before Winry took the paper from him and began to read it.

_It waits at the grave_

_Of the one we miss the most_

_May he rest in peace._

"It's some kind of poem," Winry said, handing the paper back to Ed.

"It's called haiku," Mustang explained. "It has 5 syllables in the first line, 7 in the second, and 5 in the last."

"Apparently I have to go find some guy's grave to get the documents," Ed said as he read the clue again.

"Kaylen might know something about this," Mustang said. "You should ask her about it."

"I will," Ed said quietly, walking toward the door.

"Fullmetal," Mustang said as Ed was about to leave the room. Ed turned back to see the colonel standing and saluting. "Good luck." A smile crossed Ed's lips as he saluted also.

"Yeah, thanks," he said and left the room with Winry at his side. They silently headed back to the break room, where they found Al and Kaylen talking to each other.

"Hey, Kaylen," Ed said, handing the clue to Kaylen as he spoke, "can you make any sense out of this?" Kaylen read the clue and smiled.

"Sure," she said. "It's really simple. The only way our school has enough money for supplies is by donations. Our biggest donor was Professor Alfred Lore, the only male professor at the school. Everyone loved him to death, but unfortunately, he was killed this past summer. His grave is at school in the courtyard."

"Well, that's one less thing to worry about," Ed said with a sigh. He glanced over at the clock, which read 11:10. Winry spotted some folding chairs next to the door and went to retrieve them. The four of them sat together until Havoc came into the room 20 minutes later. He had changed out of his military uniform and was now wearing a black shirt and jeans.

"Hey, Havoc," Ed said in his normal voice. He quickly realized his mistake and placed a hand over his mouth. Havoc smiled at him and then looked to Kaylen.

"How many points off is that?" he asked.

"I don't even know anymore," Kaylen answered with a look at Ed, who smiled nervously and stood up.

"Sorry," he said in his girly voice. "I forgot again..."

"Oh well, let's just get going," Havoc said. Ed nodded and faced Winry.

"See you later," he said before bending over to kiss her. Kaylen cleared her throat loudly, getting Ed's attention.

"What about me and Al?" she asked, smiling. "Do we get kisses too?"

"Sure," Ed said before blowing a kiss in Kaylen's direction. "You two can share, right?"

"Shut up and leave," Kaylen said, looking away from Ed as she spoke.

"Fine. Let's go, Lieutenant!" Ed said as he and Havoc left the room. The room was silent for a few minutes, no one sure what exactly to say. Kaylen suddenly tapped Al on the shoulder. Al looked down at her, and she blew him a kiss.

"Your half of the kiss," she said, smiling. Even though Al knew it was impossible, he was certain that he was blushing. Winry remained silent, but she watched the scene with a smile.

"Thanks, I guess..." Al said nervously. He was unsure of what else to say, so he became silent.

"You know, I'd really love to see that date," Kaylen said with a sigh. "I wonder where they went..."


	8. The Date

SGA

It's finally time for the long anticipated date!!

Chapter 8

"I don't believe this," Ed mumbled as he and Havoc approached a restaurant. "I didn't think that we were really going to a restaurant. You got money for this?"

"Well, I have a little, but you'd better be prepared to help me out," Havoc said, holding the door open for Ed as he spoke. Ed went inside, and Havoc followed close behind. A pretty blonde waitress led them to a table, eyeing Ed's uniform as they walked.

"That's a unique uniform," she said as Ed looked up. "Where do you go to school?"

"Um... St. Helen's. It's in the west area," Ed said quietly.

"Oh, I've heard of that school," the waitress said with a smile. She set the menus down on a nearby table and gestured for Ed and Havoc to sit down. "I'll be back in a minute, alright?" she said before leaving. Havoc watched her leave, a smile on his face.

"Forget it, Havoc," Ed said, smiling. "You're on this date with _me_, remember?"

"Oh, right," Havoc said as he faced Ed again. "So, what are we eating?"

"I don't think I'm gonna eat," Ed said, pushing the menu away.

"Did you seriously just say that?" Havoc asked.

"Yeah, I did. I mean I'm really hungry, but Kaylen has like a million eating rules, and I've lost too many points already," Ed said with a sigh. "You can go ahead and order, though." Havoc sat back in his chair and crushed his cigarette in the nearby ashtray.

"Well, I wasn't planning on eating either," he said quietly. "You just wanna get water?"

"You're awfully cheap, Lieutenant," Ed replied.

"Fine. Tea, then?" Havoc said. Ed nodded his approval as the waitress approached the table again.

"Have you two decided on what you'd like yet?" she asked, pulling out a pen and a pad of paper as she spoke. Havoc handed her the menus and nodded.

"We'd both just like tea, please," Havoc said, smiling. The waitress wrote down the order and looked up smiling.

"Nothing else? Are you sure?" she asked. Havoc nodded, and the waitress left again.

"How did you get stuck doing this anyway?" Havoc asked as Ed pushed his bangs out of his eyes.

"Mustang," Ed said, frowning. The single word summed up the whole story.

"So sorry, Fullmetal," Havoc said.

"Emily," Ed corrected. "Kaylen said that I can only be addressed as Emily from now on."

"Why do you let her boss you arround?" Havoc asked as the waitress returned with the tea. She set the glasses down on the table along with the unusually small bill. Ed took a drink of his tea as he thought about what Havoc just asked him. _Why do I listen to her?_ he wondered, setting his glass back down.

"I don't really know," Ed said quietly.

"You with that Winry girl now?" Havoc asked, smiling.

"Don't really know about that either," Ed answered, looking down.

"You'd better be finding out," Havoc said after another drink of his tea, "before she finds another guy." Ed remained silent for the rest of the date, thinking about what Havoc had said to him. When Havoc finished his tea, he stood up and smiled at Ed. "Ready?" he asked. Ed nodded wearily as Havoc left a tip on the table and went to pay for the tea. Ed wandered absent-mindedly behind him, his mind still pondering the thoughts that Havoc had placed in his head. They began walking back towards the military headquarters silently. "Something wrong?" Havoc asked, noticing Ed's blank stare ahead.

"What you said back there is really getting to me for some reason," Ed said quietly.

"What was I going on about again?" Havoc asked.

"About Kaylen, and then about Winry..." Ed said, his voice barely audible in the Central air.

"Hey, something I said shouldn't be getting at you like this," Havoc said, pushing Ed gently to the right. Ed became silent again, and Havoc decided that he shouldn't bother Ed about it anymore. They finally reached the military headquarters and found their way back to the break room, where Al, Winry, and Kaylen were waiting. Winry jumped up when Ed came in and went to him. Havoc crossed the room and joined Al and Kaylen.

"So how was it?" Kaylen asked.

"Interesting," Havoc said. "He didn't screw up at all, but he didn't eat anything to avoid the eating rules."

"Yeah..." Kaylen said quietly as her eyes fell on Ed and Winry across the room. She sighed when she realized that she would never be like that, not anymore.

"Don't worry, Kaylen," Al said, a smile in his voice. "Not every guy likes their girl to be like that." Kaylen looked at Al with wide eyes, and Al placed a hand on her arm. Al looked at his hand sadly, wishing that he could feel Kaylen's skin under his fingers. Kaylen smiled sweetly at him as she patted his hand with hers.

"Thank you, Al," Kaylen said, standing up. She turned to Ed with a smile. "Hey, Emily..."

"What?" Ed answered as he and Winry walked across the room.

"Time for part two of the test," Kaylen said, making Ed 's eyes widen in disbelief.


	9. Shopping Spree

It's SGA!!

Chapter 9

"We're doing WHAT?!" Ed said loudy while Winry jumped up and down.

"Yay! Shopping!" Winry said happily.

"That's right, shopping," Kaylen said. "You don't think you're gonna wear that uniforn all the time, do you?"

"What's wrong with _my_ clothes?" Ed asked angrily.

"They're guy clothes," Winry said. "You need some girl clothes to look the part. Right, Kaylen?"

"Yeah," Kaylen agreed, "and I need to pick up a few things anyway..." She looked at Havoc with a smile. "You're done here, Lieutenant," she said, and Havoc released a sigh of relief.

"Thank you," Havoc said as he walked toward the door, "and have fun shopping." He left the room without another word.

"You don't have to come either, Al," Kaylen said, facing Al as she spoke.

"Yeah, but I think I'll tag along anyway," Al answered, standing up. "It's awfully boring by myself."

"Suit yourself," Kaylen said with a smile. "Let's go then." She led the others out of the room and towards the building's exit. Winry took Ed's hand in hers, and Ed shot her a playful look.

"You dirty lesbian," he said with a smile. Al shook his head at them and quickened his pace to catch up with Kaylen. Ed cupped his hand arround his mouth and whispered to Winry, "I think Al really likes her." Winry smiled and nodded in agreement.

"Kaylen?" Al asked quietly. "Where are we going?" Kaylen looked up in suprise and smiled.

"I don't really know," she admitted. "This is my first time in Central, so I don't know where anything is."

"Well, I think there's a shopping district arround here somewhere..." Al said, looking arround.

Kaylen pointed to her left at several stores and asked, "There?"

They began to cross the road Winry tripped over the curb. Ed caught her in his arms, and Winry looked up blushing.

"I'm so clumsy! Sorry about that," she said as Ed helped her stand up. Kaylen and Al looked back at her, laughing.

"I haven't laughed this much since..." Kaylen began, her voice trailing off. Suddenly, a pained expression crossed her face, and she looked down. Al looked at her, wishing he could ask her what was wrong. Somehow, he couldn't bring himself to do it. Suddenly, Kaylen looked up at Al smiling. "This should be fun, right, Al?"

"Yeah," Al replied as they entered the first store. Ed stood in a corner with Al while Kaylen and Winry searched the store for clothes that might fit Ed. Then they pushed him into a dressing room and forced him to try on outfit after outfit. They repeated this process until they had enough clothes for Ed. At the end of the trip, Ed was wearing a shirt, a black jacket, and a pair of jeans accompanied by a pair of black flats that were a size too small. Kaylen and Winry had several new clothes also. It was 3:00 when the four of them got back to the military headquarters.

"I wish I had your new wardrobe, Ed," Winry said as they walked down the hall together.

"You can when I get out of this mess," Ed replied quietly.

"I especially want those shoes," Winry said with a smile.

"Is that why they're too small?" Ed asked angrilly. Winry laughed, answering Ed's question. Ed turned to Kaylen and asked, "Am I done yet?"

"Nope," Kaylen replied. "2 more hours." Ed sighed heavily as they went into the break room. They all sat down in their previous spots.

"When does school start, anyway?" Ed asked.

"Monday," Kaylen replied. "All of you are welcome to stay at my house for the weekend, if you want."

"Sure. It's not like we're going anywhere else," Ed said. "What about you, Winry?"

"I'd love to, if it's okay..." Winry said, and Kaylen nodded. Inside, Kaylen was flooded with anger, but she tried to hide it the best she could. Secretly, she wanted to use this time to be alone with the brothers, like it was before Winry came. She decided to try and deal with Winry's presence as best as she could, for Kaylen knew that she would always be around. Winry turned to Ed with wide eyes and took his hand in hers, mouthing the words "come with me" as she did. Reluctantly, Ed rose from his seat and excused himself and Winry from the room. Al and Kaylen exchanged looks as Ed and Winry exited the room.

"She's like a leech," Al said quietly.

"Shadow Woman," Kaylen added, smiling.


	10. Love or Lust

SGA! hoorah!

Chapter 10

Winry pulled Ed down the hallway, glancing in each room to see if anyone was in there. Ed had no idea what she was doing or why, but he really wished that she would stop.

"Winry, what the hell -?" Ed began, but Winry forcefully pulled him into an empty room. Winry stared longingly into Ed's eyes as she shut the door behind them. Ed opened his mouth to speak again, but Winry pressed a finger to his lips.

"I don't want to hear that voice," Winry said, pushing Ed up against the wall. "I want you to be the Edward that I know and love... now." She kissed him gently, innocently. Ed shook his head.

"No, Winry," Ed said quietly. "I have to do this. I have to stay in character."

"Please," Winry said, leaning in to kiss him again. Ed turned his cheek to her in rejection.

"I said no," he said evenly. Winry pressed her body up against Ed's and began to kiss his neck. She began to pull his jacket off when Ed grabbed her by the hand. They stood staring silently into each other's eyes for a moment. Ed sighed and looked down in defeat. "Fine," he whispered and allowed Winry to kiss him intimately, massaging his tongue with hers. Ed's jacket fell to the floor as the kisses intensified, and the couple soon followed. They continued for what seemed like hours to Ed. Winry was finally satisfied and relaxed on Ed. Ed silently wondered what Kaylen and Al were doing as Winry fell into a light sleep.

"She used to not be like that," Al said to Kaylen back in the break room.

"You mean Winry?" Kaylen asked.

"Yeah. She just started acting like that today. Maybe she's just..." Al stopped mid-sentence and looked at Kaylen silently.

"Trying to make me jealous," Kaylen finished for him. Al gave no verbal reply, but the silence was enough of an answer. Kaylen let her bangs fall over her eyes as she whispered, "I think it's working."

"Kaylen..." Al began, unsure of what to say.

"You're so sweet, Al. I wish it could've been you instead," she said before standing up. "Please tell Ed that he's done. I'll see you guys here tomorrow. How about 10:00?"

"Sure. Have a nice night, Kaylen," Al said quietly. Kaylen waved before leaving the room. Al sat in silence as he thought about what Kaylen had just said. _Could've been me?_ he wondered. _What did she mean?_

Meanwhile, Ed's right leg was falling asleep, much like the resting girl on his chest. He sighed and shook Winry softly. When she didn't wake, Ed decided that he had to carry her out. Carefully, he lifted her up in his arms and made his way down the hall. On his way to the break room, he ran into Kaylen.

"Hey, you leaving?" Ed asked, a friendly smile on his lips. Kaylen nodded but said nothing. "Well, we're leaving tomorrow morning, right? We meeting here?"

"Yeah," Kaylen answered. "10:00." Ed smiled and looked down at Winry in his arms.

"I'll try to get her here, too. No promises though," Ed said, laughter in his voice. He placed his automail hand on Kaylen's bare shoulder, making her jump slightly. The feel of the cold metal against her skin was new, and she found herself liking the feeling. "Take care of yourself, Kaylen. You look a bit stressed. Go get some rest, okay?" Kaylen nodded and smiled wearily as Ed pulled his hand away and placed it underneath Winry. Kaylen silently walked past Ed and towards the exit, a smile still lingering on her lips.

"Ah, you're so heavy, little girl..." Ed mumbled as he carried Winry into the break room.


	11. Painful Past

SGA...

Chapter 11

Ed and Al led Winry to their hotel room a few minutes later. She wasn't enthusiastic about the tiny hotel room, but she needed somewhere to stay, and the brothers were offering free space. She set her suitcase down on the edge of Ed's bed and sat down next to it. Ed and Al came in after her and sat on the other bed. Winry sighed and looked up with tired eyes.

"So, how are things back home?" Al asked, breaking the awkward silence in the air.

"Fine. Nothing's changed," Winry answered. Silence returned to the room after Al's sad attempt to make it leave.

"Hey, brother," Al began, facing Ed as he spoke. Ed looked up at Al as he continued, "What do you think about Kaylen staying here as well?" Winry's eyes widened and Ed gave Al a look of mixed emotions.

"She already has a place, doesn't she?" Ed asked, trying to keep both Al and Winry happy.

"Well, yeah, but..." Al paused for a moment, "we have room, and we'd save time in the morning if she was already here."

"He has a point," Ed said, looking to Winry as he spoke. "It's not like you're gonna let me sleep by myself, right?" A smile found its way to Winry's lips, and the matter was settled. Al called the hotel where Kaylen was staying and asked if she would like to stay with them. Of course she did, and she arrived about an hour and a half later. They decided to just order room service and then get some sleep. Kaylen sat back silently and listened to the others' stories of their childhood.

"Do you remember that time when Ed wrote me that letter?" Winry asked Al.

"Oh yeah! 'Dear Winry, I really really like you...' " Al recited, making Ed blush.

"Hey, shut up!" Ed said loudly while the others laughed.

" 'I like you ten times more than Al does,' " Winry continued, pulling Ed into her arms. She kissed him on the cheek and began to laugh. She looked up at Kaylen, smiling.

"Tell us one of your childhood stories, Kaylen," she said, letting Ed go as she did. Kaylen looked down, trying her hardest to keep smiling.

"I guess it's time I told you guys my story," Kaylen said, looking up, "but I don't want your pity." Al and Winry nodded silently, but Ed couldn't keep quiet.

"You think you have it worse than us? Who the hell do you think you are?" Ed asked angrily. Kaylen didn't turn away, her eyes still locked with Ed's.

"Ed!" Winry said, hitting him in the arm. "She didn't say anything like that."

"I wouldn't give pity to anyone who hasn't been through more than us, and you know it," Ed said, more to Kaylen than to Winry. "Go ahead, tell us the story."

"I don't remember it very well, but my dad left when I was 3. He ended up overdosing a few days later and died," Kaylen began. "Because of that, my mom tried to always be around, but she still worked herself to death. Just a few years ago, she got lung cancer, and she never smoked a day in her life. I guess that was my dad's fault, too. She's not expected to live the rest of this year." Kaylen stopped and looked up.

"That it?" Ed asked. Winry shot him an angry look but said nothing.

"Hardly," Kaylen replied, "but I'll save that story for another day."

"I'm sorry about all of that, Kaylen," Al said quietly. Kaylen smiled at him sadly.

"Why? You've been through so much more, and I said that I didn't want your pity," Kaylen replied.

"Because, unlike Ed, I accually care about you, and I wouldn't wish misery on another just because I live in a tin can," Al said, putting his feelings into every word.

"Tin can?" Ed mumbled under his breath, forcing Winry to look at him angrily yet again.

"Don't make me get the wrench," she whispered, and Ed shut up.

"That's sweet... but I'm sorry. I just can't listen to that sort of talk anymore," Kaylen said, looking down. "Maybe it was a bad idea for me to come here after all."

"No, please stay. Ed's just being an ass because he's tired," Winry said.

"Yeah... sorry," Ed appologized, looking up. "You must really feel safe arround us to have told us all of that."

"Safer than I've felt in a while, that's for sure," Kaylen said, a smile returning to her lips. "I want to thank you for not giving up on me, Ed."

"What are you talking about?" Ed asked.

"Your training. There were some days when I just knew you were gonna lose it, but you stuck with it," Kaylen said. Ed smiled at her, making Kaylen feel more comfortable.

"Sure... I don't always want to be the stubborn one, sometimes it just happens that way." Ed said quietly. "I'll admit that I can't always control what comes out of my mouth, and I say the wrong things a lot. I'm sorry for what I said..." Ed held out his arms, indicating that he wanted her to hug him.

"Appology accepted," Kaylen said as she hugged Ed. The embrace was short yet sweet, and Kaylen enjoyed the single second of it. But of course, the harsh reality would set in when they lay down to sleep, and Ed was in the bed across the room with the only girl he loved.


	12. Kaylen's Secret

SGA!!

note: just a warning, Kaylen's language isn't the best in this chapter... (but who's is?)

Chapter 12

"Wake up, sleepy!" a cheerful voice said into Ed's ear. He mumbled a reply and pulled the cover over his head. The owner of the cheery voice found this irritating and proceeded to pull the cover off. Ed blinked back the bright light of morning to see Kaylen standing there, sheets in her hands.

"Let me guess... It's gonna be like this for the entirety of my schoolgirl adventure, right?" Ed asked, sitting up.

"If you sleep that deeply all year, then yes," Kaylen said as she threw the sheets back on Ed. "Get decent and come downstairs. We're waiting." She turned to go out the door, her high heels clicking against the floor.

"Wait..." Ed said, sleep still lingering in his voice. Kaylen turned to face him again.

"What?" she asked.

"Are you wearing _heels_?" Ed asked, not believing what he was seeing. In addition to the heels, Kaylen was wearing a skirt and a tank top with a jacket over it.

"Guess so. Got a problem with it?" Kaylen replied.

"No... It's accually kinda nice to see you in something other than jeans," Ed said, smiling.

"I'm glad you feel that way, Ed. It's good for you to have an opinion about something," Kaylen said before she exited the room, shutting the door behind her.

"What crawled up her ass and died?" Ed mumbled to himself as he got out of bed. He crossed the room to get his clothes and put them on quickly. He was in the process of putting his pants on when Kaylen walked in again. She smiled at Ed before stepping into the bathroom.

"Ooh, sexy!" she called, and Ed began to laugh.

"I should be a model, huh?" he replied as he pulled his belt through a belt loop. He looked up to see Kaylen pulling 2 pills from a bottle and swallow them one at a time along with a drink of water. "Headache?" Ed asked as Kaylen emerged from the bathroom. She was silent for a moment, a blank stare on her face. Finally, she looked up, smiling.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that," Kaylen said, walking to the door. She started to open the door when Ed pulled her back by the waist.

"What was that?" Ed asked in a quiet voice. Kaylen didn't move or reply, so Ed turned her towards him. Teary blue eyes stared back at him.

"Why?! Why are you acting like this?!" Kaylen yelled as she tried to pull away from Ed.

"Acting like what?" Ed asked, holding onto Kaylen by her arms.

"Like you accually give a fuck about me! Get your hands off!" Kaylen cried, tears trickling down her cheeks.

"Kaylen..." Ed said, shaking his head. "Stop this!"

"Leave me alone!" Kaylen yelled before falling to the floor. By then, tears were steadily streaming down her face. Ed pulled her close and let her cry, warm tears sliding down his bare chest. Kaylen was silent for a moment, but then she suddenly whispered, "Don't let him hurt me..."

"Who?" Ed whispered. Kaylen looked up at Ed with wide eyes. It was as though she had woke up from a nightmare and the reality had just set in.

"Oh my God..." she said, putting a hand to her forehead. "I am so sorry."

"What...?" Ed asked as Kaylen got up and ran out of the room. Ed stood up and stared at the doorway dumbfounded. _What the hell is wrong with that girl?_ Ed thought as he put on his shirt and jacket, relieved that he could be masculine today. He looked around to see if they had left anything and then went downstairs to check out. He met only Al in the lobby.

"What on earth did you do to that poor girl?" Al asked as Ed approached him. Ed shook his head and looked up at Al.

"Where are they?" he asked, and Al pointed to the bathroom door behind him. Ed sighed heavily and leaned against the nearest wall. "I didn't do anything. Kaylen came in and took some pills, and I just asked her if she had a headache. She just went over the edge and started yelling at me. I didn't know what to do... so I just held her. Then she got up and ran off," Ed explained.

"Who knows..." Al said quietly.

"What happened?" Winry asked. She and Kaylen were in the bathroom, and Kaylen was reapplying her make-up.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kaylen said blankly.

"You know, sometimes it's okay to trust people," Winry said sympathetically.

"Yes, I know," Kaylen replied, "but I have yet to find someone I'm sure I can trust."

"Look, you may not like me that well, but what's said in here won't leave. I swear," Winry said quietly as Kaylen turned to face her.

"Okay, you wanna know so bad?" Kaylen said loudly. "Fine. I'm bipolar. Happy now?" Winry stood in shock of this news and Kaylen sat down on the counter.

"Are you serious?" Winry asked in a quiet voice.

"Would I joke about something this serious?" Kaylen replied as she began to search through her purse. She pulled out her pill bottle and let Winry read it. It was a medication for Bipolar Disorder, and the prescription was for Kaylen. Winry looked up with wide eyes and Kaylen began to laugh. "My God, you look like you just found out that Ed has AIDS after you fucked him last night!"

"What?!" Winry said angrily, blushing slightly.

"Aw, cmon... what's said in here won't leave. Your words, remember?" Kaylen said with a smile. Winry looked away and sighed.

"Truth... he refused. He's been acting so weird since last night," Winry said sadly. "You know, he really cares for you. Sometimes I think he loves you more than me."

"Bullshit," Kaylen mumbled, looking away.

"Al on the other hand..." Winry began, "I think he'd keel over if anything ever happened to you. He's totally obsessed with you or something."

"I noticed that one," Kaylen said, smiling. "You aren't as bad as I thought, Winry. Truce, okay?"

"Sure," Winry said, and they walked out of the bathroom together.


	13. 3 Little Words

SGA...

Chapter 13

The train ride to Kaylen's was horribly long, and everyone was getting restless. The good news was that Kaylen and Winry were no longer giving each other death glares and were instead getting to know each other better.

"First time you hit a kid?" Kaylen asked, continuing a string of questions that she and Winry were trading.

"It was this kid," Winry replied, pointing to Ed, "but it was with a wrench..." The girls began to laugh, but the brothers couldn't understand what was so funny. Ed continued to stare blankly out the window, while Al listened politely to Winry and Kaylen's conversation.

"I punched a kid 'cause he took my animal crackers in the first grade," Kaylen said with a smile. "That was before I went to St. Helen's. They'd probably have you arrested there for punching someone." Winry laughed briefly, and Kaylen joined in, making Ed sigh yet again.

"Okay, It's my turn. I want to know about your first kiss," Winry said, smiling. Ed suddenly turned back to the girls, apparently interested in this topic.

"I had no earthly idea what I was doing, of course," Kaylen said. "It was full of sadness, though... It was the day when my mom was diagnosed with cancer. It was my best friend Iann, and I was crazy about him. If I would've known..." She looked down sadly, unable to finish her sentence.

"It's okay, I understand. A bad breakup?" Winry asked as Kaylen looked up.

"The worst," Kaylen replied, a smile returning to her lips. Suddenly, the train stopped and the conductor appeared at the front.

"Mascradé!" he called before opening the doors.

"Yay, we're here..." Kaylen said as she picked up her bag. The others followed her off the train silently and wondered what sort of town Mascradé was. The trip from the train station to Kaylen's house was a short one, and the visitors took this time to admire the scenery. Mascradé was a small, thriving town filled with friendly people. It seemed as though everyone knew everyone else, and questioning eyes followed the newcomers. "I'll warn you, since I've been gone, this house is probably a mess," Kaylen said as they approached her house. She took a deep breath and opened the door.

"Mom! I'm home!" Kaylen called as they stepped inside. "And I brought friends!" As Kaylen spoke these words, a woman of about 40 came from the kitchen. She had light brown hair and bright blue eyes like her daughter.

"Kaylen, dear," Ms. Osdal said in a soft voice, hugging Kaylen as she did. "How was your trip?"

"Okay..." Kaylen turned to the others. "Mom, these are my friends. They'll be staying with us this weekend." Ms. Osdal turned to the three others and smiled.

"Let me guess," she said to Ed, "you're our dress up doll, right?"

"Yes, I'm afraid," Ed replied with a sigh and shook her hand. "Edward Elric, ma'am."

"You're his brother, I presume?" Ms. Osdal said to Al.

"Yes, I'm Alphonse Elric. It's a pleasure," Al said, bowing his head. At last Ms.Osdal turned to Winry.

"You look way too pretty to be hanging arround with them," she said, smiling.

"And yet I still do," Winry replied. "My name's Winry Rockbell."

"Well, the guest room is ready for you. Kaylen, why don't you show them arround while I finish lunch?" Ms. Osdal said.

"Okay," Kaylen said, walking towards the stairs. She showed them where everything was and then led them to the guest bedroom.

"I love your house, Kaylen," Winry said as she put her suitcase down. Ed stood silently at the doorway as the others talked. Winry noticed his lack of speech and went over to him. Kaylen and Al didn't seem to notice, for they got caught up in a conversation about curtians. (I know, don't ask!) "What's wrong?" Winry asked as she wrapped her arms arround his waist. Ed sighed and shook his head.

"It's nothing," he whispered. "Just a headache." Winry kissed him and pulled him close to her.

"Ed, I have to tell you something," Winry whispered in his ear.

"What is it?" Ed replied just as quietly.

"I love you," Winry said as she looked into Ed's eyes. Ed's eyes widened and he didn't answer her. Kaylen looked over at them, unaware of what Winry had just said.

"Hey, you two okay?" Kaylen asked, making Ed and Winry look at her. Winry smiled and pulled herself away from Ed.

"Yeah, we're fine," Winry said, walking towards Kaylen as she spoke. Ed lowered his head and began to think about what Winry had said. It was amazing how 3 little words had such an effect on him, and he began to wonder if this was really love that he felt for Winry. He shrugged and decided to think about it later.

"Ed?" Kaylen said as she approached Ed. He looked up and Kaylen smiled at him. "You look a little out of it. Sure you're okay?" Ed looked around and saw that Winry and Al had left the room. "Winry and Al went to get lunch," Kaylen said, as though she was reading Ed's mind. "Tell me what's bothering you." Ed sighed and sat down on the bed.

"Winry just said that she loved me," Ed said quietly as Kaylen sat down next to him.

"And what did you tell her?" Kaylen asked.

"Nothing. I don't know how I feel... I don't know what to tell her..." Ed said, resting his head in his hands as he spoke.

"Maybe you should figure it out," Kaylen advised. "It's not good to leave a girl hanging like that." Ed groaned and layed back on the bed, pushing his bangs out of his eyes.

"You're a girl, so tell me what she wants to hear," Ed said quietly, looking up at Kaylen.

"I hate to tell you this, but Winry and I are two very different people. I don't know what she wants of you," Kaylen said sympathetically.

"I accually don't think I'm in love with her," Ed said, his voice almost at a whisper.

"But that could change in time," Kaylen said quietly.

"It might not," Ed said, his eyes locked on Kaylen's. Kaylen felt herself blush slightly by the way Ed looked up at her and got up quickly.

"We should go get lunch," she said, her back turned towards Ed.

"...Yeah," Ed said as he got up. Kaylen left the room slowly with Ed close behind her.


	14. Departure

..:SGA:..

Chapter 14

The weekend went by very quickly, and on Sunday, the four friends got ready to go their seperate ways. They said goodbye to Ms. Osdal and set off towards the train station. Al and Winry's train arrived before Ed and Kaylen's, and they all had a sad goodbye. Winry held Ed in her arms and began to cry silently.

"God, you're acting like you'll never see me again," Ed said quietly. "I'll see you soon, okay?" Winry looked up smiling.

"I'm sorry. I'm gonna miss you so much, Ed..." Winry said, stroking Ed's face with her hand.

"I'm gonna miss you too," Ed replied before kissing Winry quickly. Winry pulled Ed back to her and kissed him deeply, caressing his tongue with hers. Close by, Kaylen was saying goodbye to Al.

"I'll be at Winry's house if you need me," Al said, and Kaylen nodded.

"I doubt it'll get that out of hand..." Kaylen said, smiling. "I'll call you when we get farther along in the mission."

"I'll see you soon, right?" Al asked.

"Around fall break you and Winry can come out," Kaylen replied.

"I guess this is goodbye," Al said quietly.

"For now," Kaylen said, smiling. "Bend down, would you?" Al was slightly confused by Kaylen's request, but he bent down anyway. Kaylen wrapped her arms arround his neck. "Stay out of trouble, Al." Al held Kaylen carefully.

"You know I will," he replied as Kaylen released him. They both looked over at Ed and Winry, who had stopped making out long enough to look back. They came over to where Al and Kaylen stood, hand in hand. Ed pulled away from Winry to say goodbye to Al, leaving Winry and Kaylen alone.

"Kaylen," Winry said as she hugged Kaylen. "You better behave yourself out there."

"Don't worry about me," Kaylen said, pulling away from Winry. "Ed needs to be worried about more."

"Oh, he's getting quite a bit of my worrying too," Winry said with a smile. The brothers returned to where the two girls stood.

"I guess we'd better go, Al," Winry said quietly.

"Alright," Al said. "Goodbye, Brother. Goodbye, Kaylen."

"Goodbye," Ed and Kaylen said in unison. Winry squeezed Ed's hand before releasing it and following Al onto the train. Ed and Kaylen watched the train leave sadly.

"And then there were two," Ed said to Kaylen, and they both smiled at each other.

Ed and Kaylen's train came a few minutes later. They got on to find that there were very few people on the train with them. Kaylen sighed and layed down in her seat, kicking her shoes off as she did.

"Those things hurt so bad," she said as Ed sat down across from her. Suddenly, she looked up at Ed, an evil smile on her face.

"Oh, hell no," Ed said, shaking his head. "No way. I am not wearing heels!"

"Aw, c'mon. They'll make you so much taller," Kaylen said. It was like a light bulb had turned on inside of Ed's brain, and he smiled.

"You're right," he said quietly. "That idea's not half bad..."

"Drag queen," Kaylen mumbled, still smiling.

"What was that?" Ed asked, smiling also. He picked up Kaylen's shoes and studied them for a moment. Then he took off his boots and put the heels on, struggling since they quite a bit smaller than Ed's feet. Kaylen began to laugh as Ed stood up, holding out his arms in an attempt to balance himself. He tried to walk, but his left foot twisted, the metal crushing the shoe's heel as it came down.

"Way to go, genius," Kaylen said, still laughing. "Thanks for breaking my shoe."

"Calm down. I'll fix it," Ed said, gathering the shattered pieces of the shoe's heel as he spoke. He placed them in a small pile next to the shoe on the floor. "And now for your enjoyment, the Great Fullmetal will reassemble your shoe of death!" He clapped his hands together and touched the floor, a bright white light illuminating the floor in front of him. A moment passed, and the light disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving Kaylen's repaired shoe behind. "Ta-da!" Ed said as he handed Kaylen her shoe.

"You don't use a circle?" Kaylen asked, laying her shoe on the floor.

"Nope," Ed replied, sitting back down.

"Iann always wanted to learn how to do that," Kaylen said, looking down.

"Did this kid give you a tough time or something?" Ed asked.

"Yeah," Kaylen said. She pulled the collar of her shirt down a little more, revealing an unusually large scar on her chest.

"Damn. What happened?" Ed asked quietly.

"Water was Iann's element, if you can even call it that," Kaylen explained. "One day it was raining, and he was mad... so he froze some of the rain and cut me."

"What for? Did you piss him off?" Ed asked.

"He was drunk," Kaylen said, her voice barely audible.

"I'm sorry," Ed said. "Why don't you start over and tell me the whole story." Kaylen turned away, her hair falling over her eyes.

"Maybe some other time," Kaylen said, a single tear sliding down her cheek.


	15. Saint Helen's School for Girls

-SGA-

Chapter 15

Kaylen slept the rest of the way to the school. Ed began to get nervous, wondering what would happen if they found out that he wasn't a girl. They finally arrived at their destination, Kedrune. It, unlike Mascradé, was a large city with many buildings and a more diverse population. Ed also noticed that there were many universities arround.

"Why so many schools?" Ed asked Kaylen as they walked toward St. Helen's.

"Well, if you don't want to go to Central, you gotta go somewhere," Kaylen replied. "There's a restaurant up here. We'll go in there to change." They reached the restaurant and went inside to change. The uniform consisted of a black collared shirt, a maroon jacket which had the school crest on the pocket, and the skirt to match. Ed got done changing quickly, while Kaylen took quite a bit longer.

"C'mon, Kaylen," Ed whined from outside the stall she was in. "I feel weird..."

"I'm having a wardrobe malfunction," Kaylen said. "Can you help me out?"

"Um... That depends," Ed said. "What sort of malfunction are you having?"

"Well, the zipper on my skirt broke," Kaylen said. "Fix it for me!"

"Okay," Ed said, and Kaylen threw her skirt over the door. Ed clapped his hands together and touched the zipper, instantly fixing it. He threw it back over the door to Kaylen.

"Thanks," she said as she emerged from the stall. Ed had never seen Kaylen in her uniform before, and he had to admit that it looked good on her. Ed on the other hand... well, that was another story. He was wearing lacey gloves, whick were very uncomfortable, and thick black tights, which were even more uncomfortable. They set out towards St. Helen's. "Don't forget your voice," Kaylen said. "I won't have any sympathy if you screw up this time."

"You had sympathy before?" Ed asked, his girly voice returning. Kaylen glared at him and smiled.

"Hey, can I ask you about something?" Ed asked.

"Depends," Kaylen replied.

"What was your problem the other day at the hotel?"

"No, you can't ask me that," Kaylen said, quickening her pace.

"But Kaylen, I..." Ed started, placing a hand on Kaylen's shoulder as he spoke. She whirled around, an angry look on her face.

"I said no!" Kaylen said firmly before turning and running away. Ed shook his head and ran to catch up with her.

"Kaylen," Ed called after her. Kaylen's pace slowed down until she was standing still, allowing Ed to catch up. Kaylen looked at Ed sadly when he reached her.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. Ed pulled her into his arms and held her close to him, closer than he ever would've voluntarily held Winry.

"I want to know what's wrong so I can help you," he whispered in his normal voice. Kaylen, as much as she was enjoying this, pulled away from Ed's grip.

"Later," she said, and they continued on to St. Helen's.

Saint Helen's School for Girls had to be the largest school Ed had ever seen. There were several buildings to it, each of which was extremely large. There were girls in uniforms everywhere, all getting settled in before initiation.

"I think I'm gonna like this," Ed said playfully, eyeing two girls who walked by.

"Eyes off," Kaylen said. "You have a girlfriend."

"Who said?" Ed laughed as Kaylen led him to the dorms. She led him up several flights of stairs to the 6th floor. Kaylen pulled a key from her pocket and stopped at a door labeled '606'. "How come you already have a key?" Ed asked.

"Around here, you keep the same room until you graduate. Luckily for you, my roomate graduated last year," Kaylen explained as she opened the door. "Welcome home." Ed stepped inside the unusually large dorm room and set down his things on the empty side of the room. Kaylen's side was apparently still decorated from last year, so all she had to do was put up her clothes. Ed began to make his bed while Kaylen pulled clothes out of her suitcase. "How do you like it?" Kaylen asked.

"It's bigger than I thought it would be," Ed replied.

"Want me to help?" Kaylen asked, finished with her only task already. Ed handed her the suitcase that contained his new girly wardrobe.

"Go for it," he said. They finished unpacking at about 3:00 and decided to explore the grounds before initiation. Kaylen ran into many of her friends, all of whom she introduced to "Emily". Ed tried his best to smile at every one of these girls, but he was getting sick of it quickly. Finally, It was time for the initiation. Ed and Kaylen headed towards the auditorium along with many other girls.

"What exactly happens at initiation?" Ed asked quietly.

"Well, all the new students get recognized, and they pass out new pins," Kaylen said, pointing to her collar to show Ed last year's pin. "It's how they know you're a student even when you're wearing street clothes."

"Great..." Ed mumbled to himself as they reached the auditorium.


	16. Bitter Reunion

SGA

Chapter 16

Ed took a seat next to Kaylen in the large auditorium. Kaylen was busy talking to several of her classmates, so Ed just listened to the conversation quietly.

"Kaylen, I love that you grew your hair out again," one of the girls said to Kaylen.

"Yeah, it looks so much better without that red you had in it last year," another girl commented. Ed sighed and wondered if this really was all girls talked about. Suddenly, he felt a tug on his hair and turned to see the same girl smiling at him. "I like your hair too, Emily," she said. "It complements your eyes."

"Thank you," Ed answered politely, turning back arround as he spoke. _Dear Lord, when does this torture end?_ he thought as an elderly woman in nun's clothing took the stage. Kaylen leaned in close to Ed, making him jump slightly.

"That's Sister Margret," she said in a whisper. "I guess you could say she's the principal, but we call her the director." Ed nodded and turned his attention back to the stage.

"I would like to welcome you all back to St. Helen's this year," Sister Margret said into the microphone, and everyone began to clap. "At this time would all the new students come to the stage please. Heads of each class will be handing out pins at the back after initiation to all of the returning students, so make sure you pick yours up." Kaylen elbowed Ed in the arm and gestured to the stage, smiling.

"Is this gonna be worse than your exam?" Ed asked before getting up.

"Maybe," Kaylen answered as she pushed Ed in the back, forcing him forward. Ed and a few other girls who had to be 5 years younger than him made their way toward the stage. On the stage were 20 chairs, all of which had a name tag on them. Ed found the chair labeled Emily Elric and was relieved to find that it was in the back. A girl with light brown hair and a tan complexion sat down next to him and smiled. She looked friendly and somehow felt very familliar.

"Thank God, someone who's not 10 years old," she said. "My name's Kendra."

"Emily," Ed said, smiling also. Out in the audience, Kaylen's friends spotted Kendra sitting next to Ed and told Kaylen. Kaylen didn't reply but instead just stared at the girl.

"They really let her come back after what happened in 8th grade?" a voice behind her said. It was obvious that Kaylen was fighting back tears, and even from the stage Ed noticed. He remained silent though, for the initiation was about to begin. Sister Margret called each girl up one by one and handed her a pin. Finally, it was Ed's turn.

"Emily Elric," Sister Margret said, and the girls in the audince began to clap. Ed walked up to the front of the stage and looked out at Kaylen, who was clapping the hardest. Ed took his pin and sat back down. There was a long pause, and Sister Margret looked up again. "In the history of St. Helen's, there has only been one record of a member of the male sex on campus without our knowledge. There is also only one record of alcohol use on campus. We punish mistakes, but we also give second chances. That's why the last name I'm going to call is Kendra Osdal." Ed looked at Kendra with wide eyes. _Osdal is Kaylen's last name..._ he thought as he watched her walk away. He looked out at Kaylen, who was unable to hold back tears anymore. Several girls were comforting her, and Ed wished that he could be down there with her. Sister Margret dismissed everyone, and Ed ran down to comfort Kaylen. Tears were still coming down her cheeks as Ed grabbed Kaylen by the arm and pulled her ear to his lips.

"I don't know what happened, but I have a feeling it's not too good," Ed whispered before he released Kaylen.

"I'll tell you later on," Kaylen said. "Let me get my pin and we'll go to dinner." Kaylen got her pin from the head of her class and headed toward the cafeteria. On the walk there, Kendra came up to Kaylen and began walking next to her.

"How are you, Kay?" she asked sweetly.

"When did they let you out of rehab?" Kaylen said sarcastically, avoiding Kendra's eyes.

"You're so mean!" Kendra said. "I missed you, sissy!"

"Leave me alone," Kaylen said blankly, quickening her pace. She grabbed Ed by the arm and held on tightly, releasing her anger in her grip. Ed started to pull away, but figured it was probably better to just deal with it.

"You didn't miss me at all, did you?" Kendra asked.

"Don't start shit with me today," Kaylen said quietly. "Just leave me alone."

"You're no fun, Kay," Kendra said before walking away. Kaylen sighed and slowly let Ed's arm go.

"I'm sorry about your arm," Kaylen said, smiling at Ed. "I was gonna punch her if I didn't hold on to something."

"Sure. Next time I hope it's my automail arm, though," Ed said quietly. "Is she your sister?"

"Yeah, older by one year," Kaylen said.

"What did she do that was so awful?" Ed asked.

"I told you, later," Kaylen answered, looking up at Ed sadly.


	17. Truth

SGA

note: this is my one and only sob chapter... enjoy it cause it's not happening again!!

Chapter 17

Kaylen and Ed had dinner by themselves, Kaylen claiming that she was still upset and she didn't want much company. After dinner, they went back to the dorm to rest. Ed locked the door behind him and fell down on the floor slowly.

"That was hell," he said, using his normal voice for the first time in several hours.

"Go ahead and change," Kaylen said, burying her face in her pillow. Ed was relieved to get the uncomfortable uniform off and put pants on.

"Okay, all decent," Ed said, and Kaylen looked up.

"You're right, today was hell," Kaylen said, sighing.

"Time for you to explain a whole bunch of stuff to me," Ed said, coming over and sitting with Kaylen on her bed. Kaylen looked up at Ed with a frown.

"You ready?" Kaylen asked, and Ed nodded. "Well, Kendra and I started going to school here when I was 10. That summer, when I turned 11, we had my birthday party at the park. There was this kid next to the swings who kept watching us, and he was still there after the party. We took him to the police and told them he was lost, but no one ever came for him. We ended up taking him in ourselves. The boy was Iann," Kaylen said. "Still with me?" Ed nodded, and Kaylen continued, "Kendra adored Iann, but he couldn't stand her. He ended up asking me out instead. I loved him so much, and I still do. One weekend when I was 14, he came out here to see me and was staying at a nearby hotel. I was with Kendra in her room, and I fell asleep. Kendra got the bright idea that she would try to steal Iann from me, so she called him and pretended to be me. Of course he came right over, but when Kendra met him, he started to leave. She said I was tired and sent her instead, so he followed her up to my empty bedroom." Tears began to form in Kaylen's eyes as she continued the story. "She got him drunk and started kissing him. It was about then when I woke up and started down the hall to my room. The door was locked, but I didn't remember locking it. I took out my key and unlocked the door..." Kaylen was unable to finish her sentence because she was crying so hard. Ed put a hand on her back and pulled her closer to him.

"Kaylen..." Ed said softly, putting his other arm around her and pulled her into a quick embrace. Kaylen wiped away tears and began to tell her story again when Ed released her.

"Iann saw me and started freaking out. I started to run away, and he followed me out. I didn't know he was drunk until he pulled me back in the hall. Kendra was slowly following us, but she wasn't there yet. I started yelling, but I can't remember what I said. Then he slapped me and asked me why I was yelling at him. I started running again, and I didn't stop until I was outside. It was raining, and I slipped down on the pavement. That's when Iann cut me with the ice. Kendra finally caught up with us and just stood there. He just started beating the crap out of me, and I couldn't do anything because I loved him too much. And Kendra just stood there..." Kaylen said, more anger than sadness in her voice.

"That's awful," Ed whispered. He bit his lip, for his insides were crying for Kaylen. He couldn't figure out why he felt this way; he hadn't been this emotional about someone else's problems before. This girl had been through so much, and she accually trusted him enough to tell him what had been locked up for so long.

"It wasn't long after that when I started to have awful mood swings. I'd go from extremely happy to suicidal in two seconds," Kaylen continued, looking Ed in the eyes. "They told me I had Bipolar Disorder. I think that's why I freaked out that morning. I'm still really sorry about that..."

"It's fine," Ed said, his voice barely above a whisper. "What caused it?"

"They said something triggered it, but it could've been one of many things," Kaylen answered. "Anyway, after that Iann left town, and no one knows where he is today. Kendra started living with my grandparents in the south, and I still can't believe she's back. And me... I'm still beating myself up on the inside for even asking Iann to come out here anyway." Suddenly, she smiled at Ed. "Thank you for listening. It feels good to get all of that out of me."

"Thank you for telling me," Ed replied. "I feel like I know you better now." They shared one last friendly embrace, and the matter was settled.

"I think I'll take a shower," Kaylen said, standing up. She pulled a towel out of a nearby drawer and headed for a door which Ed had earlier believed to be a closet.

"Wait, that's the bathroom?" Ed asked as Kaylen opened the door.

"Yep. All to ourselves," she replied with a smile. Ed layed back on the bed, smiling also.

"Don't take too long, then," he said, shutting his eyes as Kaylen shut the door.


	18. Scissors and Indecision

...SGA...

drama, drama, drama...

Chapter 18

_Snip._

Ed woke up about an hour later. It took him a minute to realize where he was and why he felt like he had dipped his face in a bucket of paint. _That's right,_ he thought, _I was gonna take a shower after Kaylen to get all this crap off my face._ He tried to get up but couldn't. "Okay, never mind," he mumbled to himself.

_Snip, snip._

"What the hell...?" Ed said. He realized that the noise was coming from the bathroom, and that Kaylen was nowhere in sight. He finally mustered the strength to get up and investigate. He walked to the bathroom door and opened it, revealing Kaylen, who was wearing nothing but a towel. She blushed and smiled, somewhat embarassed.

"Oopsie..." she said. "Did I wake you?" Ed shook his head. He noticed a pair of scissors in her hand and looked down to see locks of Kaylen's hair covering the floor beneath his feet. He then looked back at Kaylen with wide eyes. Her hair, which only an hour ago had swept down her back, was now cut to her shoulders. Ed crossed the room and joined Kaylen. He let strands of her hair fall through his fingers slowly. Kaylen slapped his hand away and looked at him angrily. "Don't you dare. Stop toying with me, Ed."

"What the hell?" Ed said, stepping back.

"You're just leading me on. What am I, your little expirement? Seeing how many girls you can juggle at once?" Kaylen said, raising her voice as she spoke.

"No, I..." Ed stopped, not knowing how to put what he was trying to say into words. "It's not like that at all... I..." He looked at Kaylen, his eyes speaking for him. Kaylen sighed and looked away, dropping her scissors on the floor. Ed suddenly cupped his hands around Kaylen's face, his golden eyes burning into hers. "Sometimes it may not seem like it, but I really care about you, Kaylen." Kaylen looked down sadly as Ed released her. She nodded faintly, closing her eyes as she did.

"You drive me insane, but I don't know what I would do without you," she whispered, looking back up slowly as she spoke. Ed smiled at her, and she returned the gesture.

"I'm gonna take a shower if you don't care," Ed said.

"But what about all of this?" Kaylen asked, gesturing to the floor.

"Leave it to me," Ed said, smiling.

"Alright. I'll bring you a towel," Kaylen said before leaving the room and soon returning with a white towel in her arms. Ed took it and thanked her. She turned to leave, but Ed pulled her back by the arm. She turned and smiled at him. "What is it?" she asked, her bright blue eyes staring back at Ed. Ed pulled her close to him and kissed her quickly, her lips warm against his. Kaylen stumbled backwards and blushed as Ed released her.

"Good night," he said, smiling. "Don't forget, we need to see that grave tomorrow." Kaylen nodded absently and left the bathroom, shutting the door behind her. She sat down on the floor and leaned back against her bed, sighing as she did. She buried her face in her hands and began to cry silently. _I'm finally happy, but I can't do this when I know it's hurting another,_ Kaylen thought. She fell over and lay on the floor, fresh tears coming from her eyes. _I can't allow Winry to be hurt like I was... _She bit her lip, new tears escaping her eyes. She shut her eyes and before she knew it, Kaylen was asleep.

Ed turned on the shower and stepped inside. The warm water felt relaxing as it hit his tired body. Ed lifted his head to greet the water droplets, which rolled down his face as if they were greeting him in return. He sighed as he pondered the thoughts in his head about Winry. _I know I don't love her... but I do like her. I always have, after all..._ Suddenly, he remembered Kaylen in the other room and ran his fingers through his wet hair. "Damn it..." he whispered. _But I like her too..._ It was safe to say that if Ed had a certain preference of a girl, Kaylen had to be the exact opposite. There was just something about her that made her stand out in Ed's mind, and he couldn't figure out what. He closed his eyes and lowered his head. _What do I do?_ He shook his head and stepped out of the shower. He wrapped a towel around his waist and headed for the door. He saw Kaylen lying on the floor and his heart skipped a beat. "Kaylen?" he said loudly, walking over and kneeling down next to her. He noticed that there were tears on her face and the floor beneath her was wet. She opened her eyes, and Ed sighed in relief.

"What?" she asked, sitting up slowly. She pulled up her towel and leaned back against the bed. "What's wrong?" Ed sighed and smiled at her.

"Nothing..." he said quietly. "Sorry." Kaylen got up and went to get her pajamas out of a drawer. Ed changed in the room, while Kaylen went into the bathroom. Ed lay down on his bed as Kaylen came back into the room and got into her own bed.

"We get a wake up call at 6:00," Kaylen said. "Breakfast is at 7:00, and class starts at 8:00. Try to get some sleep, okay?"

"Yeah, you too," Ed replied as Kaylen turned over and closed her eyes. Ed sighed and picked up the phone next to his bed. He dialed Winry's number and listened to the ringing in his ear.

"Hello?" Winry's light voice said on the other end.

"Hey, Winry..." Ed said quietly.

"Edward! How's school?" she asked, cheerfulness suddenly noticeable in her voice.

"Horrible," Ed answered, and Winry laughed. "I don't have much time to talk, but I have to tell you this right now."

"What is it?" Winry asked. Ed sighed, and across the room, Kaylen began to listen to the conversation.

"I think we need to take a break while I'm out here," Ed said, and Kaylen's eyes widened.

"Why?" Winry asked, sadness quivering in her voice.

"Just because it's stupid to be committed when we're so far apart," Ed said softly.

"Okay..." Winry said almost silently.

"I hope this doesn't make you think any less of me, but I really do think that it's pointless to be with a girl for two days and then leave and expect the same feelings to still be there months later. I think we should wait and see how we feel after this is over," Ed said evenly. Winry's crying was now audible on Ed's end of the phone, making him sigh and close his eyes. "I'm not trying to be mean, Winry. I am really sorry about this, but it's the way I feel. If you'd rather me lie to you then..."

"No, I understand," Winry managed to say through sobs. "You're right, Ed. I'll see you when you come home, I guess."

"Alright, bye then," Ed said and hung up the phone.

"That was so mean," Kaylen said quiety. Ed looked at her as she faced him.

"It's the truth," Ed said.

"That doesn't make it right," Kaylen defended. They stared at each other for a moment, mixed emotions in their eyes. Slowly, a single tear slipped down Kaylen's cheek. "I didn't think you were like that." She turned back over and pulled the blanket over her head. Ed sighed and closed his eyes. What Kaylen had just said was ringing in his ears, and he didn't like the sound of it.


	19. Toast with Friends

"SGA"

Chapter 19

"Wake up, Ed!" Kaylen said, shaking Ed as she spoke. Ed opened his eyes to see Kaylen smiling back at him and waving Ed's skirt in her hands. He got up reluctantly and got dressed. He sat down on his bed and let Kaylen do his make-up. "You need to brush your hair," Kaylen said as she applied eyeshadow to Ed's eyes. Ed sighed as Kaylen handed him a brush. He ran the brush through his hair as Kaylen finished her work.

"We going to breakfast?" Ed asked. "I'm starving..."

"Fix your voice and we'll go," Kaylen answered, walking to the bathroom as she spoke.

"Okay..." Ed said in his girlish voice. He walked to the bathroom door and saw Kaylen staring in the mirror, tugging at random places on her uniform. Then she picked up her mascara and began to put more on, making Ed sigh. "Kaylen, you look fine," he said, walking into the bathroom.

"You're just saying that," Kaylen said as she brushed her hair in the same place over and over. Ed laughed quickly and grabbed her by the wrist. Kaylen looked at him, and Ed smiled back at her.

"I am not. Put the brush down and let's go," Ed said quietly. Kaylen sighed and set her brush down on the counter.

"I'm so nervous, Ed. My hands are shaking," Kaylen said, holding out a trembling hand.

"You'll be okay," Ed said softly. He pulled her by the hand out of the bathroom and released her when they reached the door. They walked to the cafeteria together silently. Kaylen sat down at the first empty table and layed her head on it.

"I'm not hungry," she said quietly. Ed shrugged and went to get a plate, leaving Kaylen alone at the table. Suddenly, she felt a tap on her shoulder and turned to see her best friend, Celeste Mandell. "Celeste!" she said loudly, hugging her friend as she did.

"It's been too long, Kaylen!" Celeste replied, taking a seat next to Kaylen. "How was your summer?"

"You wouldn't believe me if I told you," Kaylen said, laughing. "You look different... What'd you do?" Kaylen studied her friend carefully. Celeste was quite a bit shorter than herself, maybe even shorter than Ed. She had long, wavy brown hair that fell down her back, and her green eyes stood out against a sprinkle of freckles on her face.

"Nothing. Maybe you just forgot what I looked like," Celeste answered, smiling. Ed suddenly came back to the table and sat down with his food.

"Celeste, this is my friend Emily," Kaylen said, looking to Ed as she spoke. "Emily, this is Celeste." The two greeted each other and became silent afterwards. "Where's Amie?" Kaylen suddenly asked. Celeste shrugged and looked to the line of girls who were getting their breakfast.

"Over there somewhere," she said quietly. "So, where were you yesterday? I didn't see you at initiation or at dinner."

"Oh..." Kaylen looked down, as though she had done something wrong. "Sorry, I guess I forgot to meet you." Ed watched this scene silently, shoving toast in his mouth everytime Celeste looked his way so that he could avoid talking. Unknown to him, the two friends met each other at the same place every year after initiation, and the fact that Kendra was back had made Kaylen forget to meet Celeste.

"It's fine. I just wish I could've been there for you. I know seeing Kendra again must've been hard on you," Celeste said quietly.

"It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be," Kaylen said, smiling. Suddenly, another girl approached the table and set her plate down next to Ed. She was tall and had shoulder length auburn hair that angled down from the back to the front. Her blue eyes glanced at Ed but quickly turned to Kaylen. She seemed more of a threat than Celeste did, and her presence made Ed uncomfortable.

"Kaylen, my dear!" she said as she turned to Kaylen and hugged her warmly.

"Amie, hello," Kaylen said as Amie sat down between her and Ed. Amie looked at Ed carefully and said, "Who might you be?"

"That's my new roommate, Emily," Kaylen said, allowing Ed to swallow the toast he had just placed in his mouth. Amie seemed satisfied with this information and turned back arround.

"You're so rude, Amie," Celeste said. "You could at least say hi."

"Shut up," Amie said, picking up her glass. "I'll greet who I like." Celeste frowned but said nothing as Amie took a drink of her juice. Ed hadn't been paying attention to the conversation and had been pulling at the hem of his jacket when Kaylen began calling him.

"Emily," Kaylen said as she stood up. Ed looked up suddenly, and Kaylen smiled at him. "Remember what we were going to see this morning?" Ed realized that she was talking about the grave and nodded. He went to put his plate up while Kaylen said goodbye to her friends.

"Where are you two going?" Celeste asked as Kaylen stood up.

"Just to walk arround campus," Kaylen said. "Did you two get your schedules yet?"

"Yeah," Amie said as she pulled out a white sheet of paper. "Alchemy first period. Just my luck." Celeste was horrible at alchemy, but Amie loved it. She was the best alchemist in the whole school, but she seemed to never get the credit she deserved. Celeste on the other hand was an all-around genius. She had read almost every book in the school library and took all the hardest classes. The three girls were almost exact opposites, but somehow they got along as well as they did. Ed returned to the table and smiled at Kaylen.

"Well, let's get going," Kaylen said as she led Ed out of the cafeteria.


	20. The Second Clue

...:.SGA.:...

Chapter 20

Kaylen led Ed to the professor's grave, which was located next to the alchemy lab. Ed barely noticed the grave, for he was too busy staring at the lab.

"They teach alchemy here?" Ed asked, suprised.

"Who do you think Saint Helen was?" Kaylen asked, smiling at Ed. "She started this school for young female alchemists. Professor Lore taught the alchemy class, so there's a new teacher this year. Lucky for you, I decided to give alchemy a shot this year, so you'll be taking the class too." Kaylen stopped at the grave and looked around. "Is it just me, or do you not see any document type items here?" Ed looked down at the grave and studied it carefully.

"I don't see anything, either," Ed said, circling around to see the back. Suddenly, he noticed a large envelope on the back of the tombstone labeled 'Edward Elric and Kaylen Osdal'. Ed removed the envelope carefully as Kaylen walked over to join him.

"He knows my name," Kaylen said quietly, and Ed opened the envelope.

"It seems as though everyone around here does," Ed said quietly as he pulled several sheets of paper out of the envelope. He stared at these papers quietly and looked at Kaylen. "This isn't all of them."

"Did you really think it would be that easy?" Kaylen asked as she took the documents from Ed. A small slip of paper fell out of the stack, and Kaylen bent down to pick it up. She read it and sighed as she handed it to Ed. He read it slowly, trying to understand what it meant.

_The next answer waits_

_In the place where all is known_

_Let light be your guide_

"This guy wants me to be a schoolgirl for an eternity, doesn't he?" Ed said as he put the second clue and the document papers inside the envelope.

"Oh well," Kaylen said, placing a hand on Ed's shoulder. "Let's go get our schedules and put this up before class." They walked silently back to the dorm and up to their room. Ed placed the envelope on the desk, and he and Kaylen went back downstairs. They went to the central office to get their schedules and walked in to find that there was a man behind the desk. He had long brown hair that fell down his back and violet eyes. He smiled at Ed and Kaylen as they approached him.

"Good morning, girls," he said warmly. "Can I help you?"

"Yes, we need our schedules," Kaylen said. She looked at Ed, confused, and he looked back, just as confused as she was.

"Sure thing," The man said. "What grade?"

"10th," Kaylen said. "I don't believe I've seen you before, sir."

"Probably not," the man replied as he reached for a stack of papers behind him. "I'm the new alchemy professor, Nolan Lore."

"Were you related to Professor Lore?" Kaylen asked quietly.

"He was my father," Nolan replied, looking down.

"I'm sorry about your loss," Ed said, and Nolan looked up.

"Thank you for your concern," Nolan said. "Names, please." Kaylen and Ed supplied the information and recieved their schedules. "I'll see you in class, then."

"Bye," Kaylen said, and she and Ed left the office.

"How the hell did you rig this one?" Ed asked as he stared at his schedule.

"What?" Kaylen asked as Ed took her schedule and compared it to his.

"How'd you get us the exact same schedule?" Ed said.

"You know, some things I like to keep to myself," Kaylen said, smiling.

"I noticed," Ed said with a sigh.

"And some things I like to give to Colonel Mustang and let him take care of," Kaylen said, laughter in her voice.

"Now it all makes sense," Ed said, smiling. "You can only do so much yourself, so you went to the puppet master for the rest."

"If that's what you want to call it," Kaylen said as they approached the cafeteria again.

"Do we have to go back in there?" Ed asked. Kaylen looked at him and shook her head.

"No, we can wait out here," Kaylen answered, gesturing to a bench that was shaded by several trees. They sat there silently for a few minutes. Ed looked at Kaylen and remembered that she had cut her hair last night. She was wearing much more make-up than usual, and the uniform was still too new to be considered normal. Despite all of the changes, Ed found that he couldn't pull his eyes away from her. He suddenly realized that the choice he made last night was the right one. This girl had his heart in her hands, and what happened next was up to her.


	21. Secret's Out

Chapter 21

The day was long and somewhat dull for Ed. The highlight of his day had to be the highly anticipated sixth period alchemy class. He and Kaylen walked into the enormous alchemy lab and took a seat in the middle of the room. The new Professor Lore stood in the front of the room, smiling.

"Good afternoon, students," he said after the bell rang. "My name is Professor Lore, and I'll be your new alchemy teacher." His face held a look of friendliness, a certian look you didn't see on many alchemists' faces anymore. Ed found himself smiling along with the professor; he was excited to finally be studying alchemy again. Kaylen sat back in her seat, somewhat bored by the atmosphere. She just couldn't get into alchemy like Ed, or even like Iann used to. One could say that when it came to alchemy, she was still dry on the beach while Ed was at the bottom of the ocean. "This is Alchemy I, so I guess we should start with the basics. There's a textbook under your chair; please take it out and turn to page 3." With these words, the students loudly retrieved their books.

"This stuff is so easy, Kaylen," Ed whispered as Kaylen opened her book. Kaylen looked at him with eyes that begged to differ. The first class was very basic—the laws of equivalency and conservation of mass were introduced. The bell rang just as Professor Lore was about to explain the transmutation circle.

"My, I need to stop ranting," Professor Lore said, shutting the book on his desk. "We'll continue tomorrow." Ed and Kaylen left the room slowly, waiting for the aisle to clear. They walked outside to find Celeste and Amie there waiting on them.

"Did you like it?" Amie asked Kaylen as she and Ed approached them.

"I almost fell asleep," Kaylen mumbled.

"It is sort of boring at the begining," Amie agreed. They began walking towards the dorms slowly when Celeste spoke up.

"I think I'll go to the library," she said quietly. Amie turned to her, smiling.

"I was expecting that," she said as Kaylen laughed. "Go on. We'll see you later." Celeste waved goodbye to the others and walked toward the library. Ed, Kaylen, and Amie continued their journey to the dorms. Amie turned to Kaylen. "Where shall we congregate then?"

"How about your room?" Kaylen asked. "Mine's still a mess." Ed looked at her, confused. He knew that the room was clean, but he hoped that this was Kaylen's reward for him. He could go back to the room and be a guy again if Kaylen's friends weren't there. The girls stopped at Amie and Celeste's room, number 605, which was convienently placed next to Kaylen's, while Ed continued on to 606. He stepped inside and locked the door behind him quickly. With a sigh of relief, Ed pulled a rubber band from his wrist and tied his hair back. He then changed into a pair of ripped jeans and a black t-shirt. He stared at his bed silently, and instead of lying down on it, he went to Kaylen's bed and lay down on it instead. He turned over on his stomach and pressed his face into the pillow.

_Everything smells like her..._ he thought, shutting his eyes. He looked across the room to see the documents and the clue sitting on the desk. Reluctantly, he got up and went to the desk. _What the hell does this mean?_ he wondered, staring at the clue. The sun bearing down on Ed made him warmer, and he took off his shirt and threw it across the room. _Let light be your guide..._

(Just a note, the pookie thing is an inside joke between me and the girl who I made Amie for. Repeat: They are not lesbians in any way, shape, or form!)

"I just don't get it, Pookie," Kaylen said, throwing her pencil on the floor. She and Amie were studying alchemy next door, and Kaylen was getting angry. Amie shook her head and pointed at the book.

"Look, just copy the circle down," Amie said, aggrivated. "This is so simple! Why can't you get this? You're a smart girl..." Kaylen shook her head and looked down.

"It bugs me so much... I just can't get alchemy," she replied, sketching the circle in pencil on a sheet of paper. Suddenly, Celeste walked into the room with a stack of books in her arms.

"Hey Kay, can I have your room key?" she asked, setting the books down on her desk. "I still have a book from last year in your room." Kaylen, still angry from alchemy, threw her keyring to Celeste.

"It's the gold one," she said, sighing as she stared down at the circle she had drawn.

"Thanks," Celeste said as she walked to the door. She exited the room, and a minute had passed before Kaylen looked up immediately.

_Edward!_ she yelled internally before getting up and bolting out the door.

Ed was still sitting at the desk, pouring over the poem, when he heard a key turning in the lock. Happily, he turned around as the door opened slowly. "Kaylen, why're you back so soon?" he asked, but to his horror, Kaylen wasn't the girl in the doorway. A wide-eyed Celeste stared back at him, her mouth hanging open.

"Ah..." escaped her lips before Ed dashed toward the bathroom. Seconds afterwards, Kaylen came to the door, panting.

"Celeste," she gasped, turning Celeste towards her. Celeste looked at her, her eyes still wide with shock.

"But she—but he—but there—" she said loudly, pointing wildly into the room.

"What the hell?" Amie said, holding Celeste by the shoulders.

Celeste gasped for air before saying, "S-she... is a HE."


	22. Explaining To Do

Chapter 22

"What?" Amie asked as Kaylen turned away, fighting the urge to laugh. "What are you talking about?"

"Emily..." Celeste managed to say, "is a guy."

"What??" Amie said, looking at Celeste like she was crazy. Meanwhile, Kaylen was laughing uncontrollably on her hands and knees. She finally managed to stand up and face the other two.

"I guess it's about time that you guys knew the truth..." Kaylen said as she opened the door to the room. She invited the girls inside and asked them to stand next to the door. Then she walked to the bathroom to see Ed sitting on the side of the bathtub with his head in his hands.

"Don't make me," he said quietly, looking up at Kaylen as he spoke. She smiled back and bent down so that her eyes were level with his.

"Just those two, okay?" she said. "Don't let this happen again."

"It's your damn fault for giving her the key," Ed said angrily.

"It's in the past now, so let it go," Kaylen said, touching Ed on the forearm. "Come on, get up now." Reluctantly, Ed got up and shuffled at Kaylen's side to the other room. Celeste and Amie stared with wide eyes at Ed as he entered the room.

"Dear God help us," Amie said as she stared in awe at Ed. She crossed the room and continued staring at Ed, her mouth hanging open slightly. "May I worship at your feet?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Ed asked in his very much male voice.

"Eyes off, Pookie!" Kaylen said as she wrapped her arms around Ed. "He's mine." She pulled away, and Ed smiled at the two girls.

"Let's start over. My real name is Edward Elric," Ed said, making Amie even more shocked.

"_The _Edward Elric?!" she asked loudly. "Now I really gotta worship you."

"Can we tie her up?" Ed whispered to Kaylen, who replied with a shake of her head.

"No, we can't. She's only human," Kaylen said with a smile. Celeste stepped forward and seemed to be examining Ed carefully.

"Is this your new sex buddy, Kay?" she asked, making Ed blush and Kaylen stare at her in disbelief.

"Hell no!" she yelled, and Amie grabbed Ed's left arm.

"I'll have him then," she said, her eyes glittering. Ed slapped her away and looked at Kaylen.

"Are you sure we can't lock her in the closet or something?" he asked. "I think she might try to rape me." Amie giggled evily but said nothing.

"Why else would you put this poor boy through the torture of St. Helen's?" Celeste asked. "Or you want a repeat of Iann?" The words seemed to really get to Kaylen, and she looked away. Ed shared her pain in his own eyes, and the other two girls watched Ed and Kaylen with confusion.

"You two okay?" Amie asked, pulling both of them out of their emo-ish trance.

"Yeah," Kaylen said, holding onto Ed's arm as she spoke. She looked up at Ed with questioning eyes. "Would you like to tell the story, or should I?"

"I'll do it if you don't want to," Ed replied quietly. He and Kaylen sat down on his bed, and Celeste and Amie sat down on Kaylen's bed. Ed told the story of how he ended up at the school with Kaylen quickly, and the other girls listened intently.

"I think that was an awful thing for your boss to do," Celeste said when Ed finished.

"No, I think he just wanted to see Ed in a skirt," Amie said, smiling. (Oh no, RoyxEd!!)

"Oh, maybe they can help with the clue," Kaylen suggested, and Ed nodded. Kaylen crossed the room and retrieved the clue from the desk. She handed it to Celeste, who read it quickly and then handed it to Amie.

"What is this supposed to be?" Amie asked, staring at the poem in her hands.

"That's our clue," Ed explained. "It tells us where the documents are."

"It could mean anything," Celeste said. "Or anywhere for that matter. 'Let light be your guide'? That's way too vague."

"This'll take forever if even Celeste can't figure it out..." Kaylen mumbled, looking down as she spoke.


	23. Confession

Chapter 23

The next month of school went by quickly. The four friends were getting to know each other better and were spending most of their time together. Ed and Kaylen were still trying to figure out the clue, as well as how they felt about each other. It was an unusually cold night in October when Ed decided to tell Kaylen something that had been on his mind for quite a while. They were both seated at the desk, the clue and many books about various subjects related to light in front of them. They had narrowed it down to wavelengths, but what that had to do with anything was beyond them both. Ed suddenly put his pen down on the desk and faced Kaylen, staring at her quietly.

"Kay," he said softly. Kaylen lifted her head to look at Ed and was suprised by the expression on his face.

"Something wrong?" she asked, sitting up straight. Ed avoided her eyes, almost embarassed to be admitting what he was about to say.

"We've known each other for almost two months now, right?" he asked.

"Yeah, that sounds right," Kaylen replied. "Why do you ask?"

"Because even though we've known each other for such a short amount of time, I think that I trust you more than people I've known my whole life," Ed said quietly. Kaylen just stared at him, unable to come up with a reply. Ed finally looked up, his golden eyes filled with so much emotion.

"Ed..." Kaylen said, her voice barely above a whisper. "What's wrong with you?"

"What's wrong with me?" Ed said, smiling. "Well, I think that I'm in love." Again, Kaylen just sat there and stared at him.

"What did you say?" she asked, unsure if what she just heard was what had come out of Ed's mouth. He shook his head and looked back down at his book.

"You heard me, and you know I don't repeat myself," Ed said quietly. Kaylen grabbed Ed's shoulder and turned him back towards her. The look in his eyes was one Kaylen had only seen in one other person's eyes, and that person had caused her so much pain. Tears welled up in Kaylen's eyes as she stood up suddenly.

"No, you can't!" Kaylen yelled, fighting back tears. "I won't let you!"

"Won't let me what?!" Ed yelled back, standing up also. "I love you, okay! No amount of yelling and crying is gonna change that!" Kaylen bit her lip and backed away from Ed slowly. She sat down on her bed and stared at the floor blankly, unable to respond to Ed's last statement. Ed sat back down and layed his head down on the desk. "I'm sorry... I just had to get that off my chest. Forget it ever happened."

"Sorry, Ed..." Kaylen said, looking up. "I just can't do that." She stood up and crossed the room again. She wrapped her arms around Ed's neck from behind and pressed her cheek against his. "I'm sorry for yelling... but I'm afraid." She let Ed go and sat back down in her seat next to him. "I really do like you... but love is just too big for me right now. I mean..." Kaylen shook her head, and Ed placed a hand on her shoulder.

"I understand. The Iann thing, right?" he said. Kaylen nodded and placed her hand on Ed's. She removed his hand from her shoulder and held it with both of her hands.

"But we can give it a shot, can't we?" Kaylen asked, looking up at Ed with a smile on her face. Ed smiled back and nodded before leaning in to kiss her. It was the kiss Ed had wanted the first time he had kissed her, and it felt good to finally get it now. Soon afterwards, there was a loud knock on the door.

"It's to be expected," Ed said as Kaylen got up to answer the door. He shook his head as Celeste came in the door, followed by Amie.

"We heard it from the yelling," Celeste explained. "It was way too sweet..."

"So you can be sweet, huh?" Amie said. "Not just mean like you are to me..."

"That's because you're insane," Ed said, smiling.

"And she's not?" Amie argued, pointing at Kaylen. The guests sat down on Kaylen's bed and watched Kaylen as she sat down next to Ed. "It's not fair... he's just too pretty." Suddenly, a phone rang in Celeste and Amie's room, and everyone heard the ringing very clearly. Celeste jumped up and went next door to answer it, leaving Amie alone with Ed and Kaylen. There was a long silence, which was broken by Celeste yelling into the phone next door. Her words weren't very clear, but everyone could tell that she was upset. The yelling was accompanied by loud sobs, which were also very much audible in the next room. Kaylen and Amie looked at each other and sighed; apparently this was a normal thing with Celeste.

"That bitch again?" Amie mumbled, and Kaylen shook her head.

"Someone needs to feed her a dose of reality," Kaylen said in a low voice. "Celeste is an angel compared to most kids. I know I wouldn't be complaining." They then heard the phone being thrown against the wall and more crying.

"Is she okay?" Ed asked, unsure of what was going on.

"She's okay in a sense..." Amie said, looking down. "Her mom. Always expecting more than she can offer. She just can't get it through her head that Celeste is Celeste, that she can't be more than that. It hurts me and Kay almost as much as it hurts Celeste because we can't do anything to help." Ed looked at Kaylen, whose eyes were brimming with tears.

"We're such horrible friends," she whispered, walking over to Amie.

"There's nothing we can do, Kay," Amie said sadly. "If we get involved then she'll just blame us for all of this. It's best to stay out of it."

"It's too late for that," Celeste said from the doorway. Amie and Kaylen walked to her. "She's blaming you two anyway. My 'bad influences', she says." Tears flowed slowly down Celeste's face, and the other two girls comforted her. "She has no right to say those things about you two. If anyone's done anything wrong, then it's me."

"But you haven't done anything," Kaylen said. "Don't let her talk you into thinking that way." Celeste fell on her knees and began to cry harder.

"She's transferring me," she choked out, leaving Amie and Kaylen speechless.

"What?!" Amie yelled as Kaylen bent down to comfort Celeste. Ed watched it all from across the room, his eyes wide. Three girls broken down and crying in the middle of the room had to be the saddest thing Ed had ever seen in his young life, but somehow he just couldn't bring himself to cross the room and attempt to comfort them.


	24. Light

Chapter 24

Celeste was still constantly fighting with her mother, begging to stay at St. Helen's. The struggle made her angry and tired, thus bringing her grades down. This wasn't exacly helping the situation, but Celeste didn't care—she just couldn't win. She sat alone in the library one Saturday when something on one of the bookcases caught her eye—a large book on alchemy. She walked over and took it off the shelf, examining the outside. _I don't think Amie has this one... Maybe it'll help Kaylen._ She opened it up and looked through it, ultimately deciding to take it. She walked back to the dorm and into her room to find Ed demonstrating his circleless alchemy for Amie.

"Hey, it's Shorty!" Ed said, laughing. Celeste glared at him evily but remained silent.

"You have no right..." Kaylen said as Ed walked towards her. He tried to kiss her, but she turned away. "No, you appologize to Celeste."

"I'm sorry, Celeste, you sexy animal you," Ed said, laughing. Kaylen hit him on the arm, but she knew it wouldn't do any good. Celeste handed Kaylen the book she found and sat down on her bed. Kaylen flipped through the book, smiling.

"Hey, thanks," Kaylen said as Ed took the book from her.

"No way," he said, laughing. Kaylen looked confused, so Ed showed her the cover of the book. The book had been written by Ed's father, Hohenheim Elric. Suddenly, he realized something that could be very important and began to flip through the book, looking at every page closely.

"What is it? Don't trust that book or something?" Amie asked as she approached Ed.

"No, this may be what we're looking for," Ed replied, his eyes never leaving the book. "Tell me Celeste, have you ever seen another book like this one in the school library?" Celeste shook her head, and Ed sighed. "Is there a bigger library around here?" When she nodded, Ed asked if she could take them there.

"We can only leave campus if we have a chaperone," Celeste explained, and Ed groaned. This would mean he'd not only have to put on his girl act on a Saturday, but he'd also have to find a decent chaperone who wouldn't ask so many questions.

"How about Professor Lore?" Amie suggested. "You are looking for a book on alchemy after all..."

"He's fine, I guess," Ed said, getting up and putting his jacket on. "I'll go change, and you three can go and find him." Ed left the room to change as the other three girls headed down the stairs toward the alchemy hall. When he had finished changing and thrown a little make-up on, Ed headed downstairs to find the girls standing with Professor Lore.

"Ready?" the professor asked, and Ed nodded. The library was only a mile away, so the group decided to walk there. "You know this is the best library in the west area," Professor Lore commented as the library came into view. "They say if you ever need to know anything this is the place to go, unless you're in Central of course." Ed's eyes widened and he looked up at the professor.

_In the place where all is known..._ he recited in his head as they approached the library doors. The professor went over to get a newspaper while the others went to the front desk. A young girl greeted them there and directed them to where they would find the alchemy books. Ed dashed ahead of the others and pulled the book he'd been hoping for from the shelf. It was a large leather-bound alchemic journal that his father had written years ago.

Staring at the book back in the dorm had resurfaced old memories of he and Al reading everything they could get their hands on. Ed had to have read this book more than once, and he was very familliar with it. He opened the book, smiling wildly as a large envelope labeled 'Edward Elric' appeared in the center.

"Thank you, Hohenheim of Light." The other girls watched him take the envelope out and open it up, examining the insides. He pulled out a small slip of paper and read it with wide eyes.

_A soul trapped in steel_

_Longs to be human again_

_His wish is granted._

"Al..." Ed breathed, and Kaylen gasped.

"Does this maniac have your brother?" Kaylen whispered.

"This guy either has the stone or is about to create it," Ed said through clenched teeth. "What does he want with Al?"

"Here," Celeste said, holding open her bag so that Ed could put the envelope inside. They walked back over to where they had left the professor and found him reading the latest newspaper. On the cover were the ruins of an explosion and the headline "School Lab Explosion Kills Hundereds". Professor Lore looked up and smiled at them.

"Find what you were looking for?" he asked, and the group nodded. Professor Lore closed the paper and shook his head as he stared down at the cover story. "Isn't that sad? So many lives taken because someone was careless."

"Hardly," Ed whispered. Amie glanced at him and her eyes widened as she realized what he meant.

"He's created it, then," she whispered in Ed's ear, and he replied with a solid stare. The whole way back all Ed could think about was Al.

_He has to be okay... He has to be alive..._


	25. Meanwhile, in Risembool

Chapter 25

A/N: This is a random Risembool chapter to let you know what's up with the emo kids. They're still alive, after all... So, on with the chapter!!!

--

Winry sighed and glanced up from her work. _It's just too damn lonely..._ Den sat quietly at her side, using the peace to sleep. Winry stood up and set down the wrench in her hand. She walked to the door and looked out to see Al sitting in the grass quietly. He appeared to be thinking, pulling blades of grass up between his fingers every few seconds.

"What're you doing, trying to kill the lawn?" Winry asked, pulling Al out of his thoughts.

"Oh... no, not exactly," Al said, laughter in his voice. Winry smiled and sat down next to Al. Al looked at her silently. _She's not the same since Brother broke up with her,_ he thought to himself. _Her eyes have lost their light..._ Winry looked up at him with her dull eyes sadly, making Al worry about her even more.

"I wonder how Ed is," she said softly. "He hasn't called in months..."

"I'm sure he's fine," Al replied. He looked away from Winry as he said this because it almost hurt him to look at her. _Is this what they mean by heartbroken?_

"And I hope Kaylen is well," Winry said, her voice almost at a whisper. Al looked at her as she said this, knowing she didn't mean it. Winry knew that Kaylen was the girl in Ed's mind that night, but she just couldn't admit it. Talking about it just made her sadder, but somehow it was mentioned almost every day.

"It'll be okay, Winry," Al said before standing up. Winry smiled at him as she watched him walk into the house. Suddenly, she felt a single tear slide down her cheek and placed her head in her hands. _Not again... Don't cry for him again._

Al walked around the house silently, almost completly bored out of his hypothetical mind. _I really do wonder how Brother is... I wish he'd call us._ As these words went through Al's mind, the phone behind him rang loudly, making him jump. He went to answer it himself since no one else was around. "Hello?"

"Al, thank God!" Ed said on the other end.

"Wow, I'm amazing..." Al said quietly.

"What was that?" Ed asked.

"Um, nothing!" Al said. "So how are you? Why haven't you called us?"

"Sorry, I just haven't had the time," Ed replied. "We've just figured out that this guy blew up a school for stone components, and he wrote a clue about you. So, keep your eyes open, okay?"

"Alright," Al said, "but you never said how you were."

"Girlish, how else would I be?" Ed said, and the brothers laughed.

"Is Kaylen okay?" Al asked.

"Oh, she's lovely," Ed said, a smile in his voice. "Tell Winry I said hi, okay?"

"I will..." Al said. "You really need to call more often. Winry really looks like a ghost walking around here. She's still taking it pretty badly." Ed sighed heavily.

"Well what do you want me to do?" Ed asked. "I'm..." He trailed off, leaving Al to finish his sentence.

"You're with Kaylen, right?" Al asked, and Ed remained silent. He really didn't want to answer Al's question, but the truth was obvious. The silence on the phone was broken by Winry in the background.

"Al?" she said, and Al whipped around to look at her. She wore a true smile for the first time in a long time; apparently she had heard the conversation from the other room.

"Brother, Winry would like to talk to you," Al said, waiting for the response on the other end.

"Alright, put her on," Ed said reluctantly. Al handed Winry the phone and left the room silently.

"Edward, is it really you?" Winry asked quietly, fighting back tears.

"Yeah, it's me," Ed replied. "How are you? How are things back home?"

"Everything's alright," Winry answered. "Just the same old stuff going on. How about you, Miss Emily?"

"We've dug ourselves a little deeper into the whole clue thing," Ed said with a sigh. "We aren't sure where this is going to lead, but we're gonna stick with it until the end."

"How is Kaylen?" Winry asked, jealousy obvious in her voice.

"She's okay," Ed said nervously. "We were hoping you and Al would come out to Mascradé for Christmas. We'll both be there."

"I don't see why not," Winry replied, wrapping the phone cord around her finger. "Ed, I'm so glad you called. I was starting to wonder if you had forgotten about us."

"Guess not. Well, I've gotta go," Ed said as a girl's laugh became audible in the background. "It was nice to talk to you, Winry. I miss us talking like old times."

"Yeah... I'll let you go," Winry said as a tear found its way down her cheek. She hung up the phone without a goodbye and turned to see Al standing behind her. They looked at each other for a moment and then turned away.

"I guess he's too busy for us now," Al said quietly.


	26. Nightmares

Chapter 26

Ed opened his eyes to see a hazy purple sky floating above him. Sitting upright, he realized that he was wearing a black suit and was in a field of flowers. Winry lay at his side asleep; she was wearing an elaborate white dress and gloves._ Okay, that's weird..._ he thought as he lay back down. Winry curled up next to him and wrapped an arm around his waist. Ed's vision kept fading in and out, and he was sure it wasn't because he had just woken up. _Why do I feel so weird?_ Suddenly, razor-sharp nails dug into his side, and Winry began to laugh.

"I've got you, Ed," she whispered as Ed looked down at her.

"What are you..." Ed said, but was interrupted by Winry getting on top of him. She smiled before kissing him, a sweet kiss that brought back old memories and feelings. Ed let his memories run free for a moment before pushing the forceful girl off of him. "I don't know what you're thinking, but I don't..."

"Don't what?" her voice was rough and didn't sound like it belonged to its owner. Ed struggled to sit up, but Winry fought against him, and they tumbled around in the field for a moment. "How easliy you forget the past," she whispered. "I remember a time when you loved me." Ed suddenly realized why Winry was dressed the way she was; she was supposed to be a bride. Ed looked down and frowned; apparently, he was her groom.

"This is crazy, Winry," Ed said. "I don't love you. I've told you this before."

"Of course," Winry said, anger overflowing in her eyes. "I won't let that crazy bitch have you either."

"She's hardly crazy compared to you," Ed said, finally pushing Winry off of him. "Leave us alone, why don't you?" He stood up and started to walk away when he heard a small scream behind him. He turned to see Winry strangling Kaylen, who looked up at Ed with frightened eyes. She was dressed as Winry's shadow; her dress was exactly the same only black. Ed raced back over and pulled Winry off of Kaylen quickly. Kaylen took Ed by the hand, and he lifted her up in his arms. He decided to ask about it later and get out of this fairytale wasteland while he still could. Suddenly, Winry wrapped her arms around Ed's legs, sending him and Kaylen tumbling down to the ground.

"Where are you taking my sacrifice, Edward?" Winry asked as she made her way toward Kaylen. Ed cursed under his breath and attempted to get up as Winry reached out for Kaylen again. Ed found his body immobile and unable to respond to his commands. Yet again Winry had Kaylen pressed between herself and the ground beneath them. She ran her fingers down Kaylen's face gently, smiling as she did. "Exquisite..." she whispered. "You'll make a fine sacrifice." She wrapped her hands around Kaylen's throat as a single tear slipped down her cheek.

"Why can't I be you?!"

Ed sat up and forced his eyes open. Sweat dripped down his face as the shock of the dream settled down. His rapid breathing slowed down as his eyes fell on Kaylen, who was asleep in her bed across the room. _Thank God..._ he thought as he got out of bed and walked over to Kaylen. Bending down next to her, he pushed her bangs out of her face and smiled. Suddenly, a smile appeared on Kaylen's lips, and she opened her eyes.

"What's wrong?" she asked. "You're shaking..." Ed took Kaylen's hand in his and pulled her to his bed.

"You are never gonna believe the dream I had," Ed said quietly. He explained his dream to Kaylen as they sat on his bed. Kaylen shook her head as Ed finished telling the story.

"That's a crazy dream..." she mumbled as she pulled up Ed's blanket and layed down in his bed. Ed sighed as she pulled him toward her.

"C'mon, Kay," he said with a sigh. "We both can't fit."

"You sure about that?" Kaylen whispered, smiling. Ed kissed Kaylen quickly and then got up, pulling her with him. She stuck out her bottom lip at Ed.

"You're no fun," she mumbled as she crossed the room to her own bed. Ed smiled and layed back down in his bed. Suddenly he remembered something and turned to face Kaylen again.

"Hey, what's this I keep hearing about a Christmas dance?" he asked, making Kaylen giggle across the room.

"We have a Christmas dance every year with our brother school, Bartholemew's," Kaylen explained. "My friend Kade might let you borrow a uniform so that you can come with me. I'm still trying to get him to go with Pookie, though..."

"When can I meet this guy?" Ed asked.

"Next week they start walking through here, seeing friends, meeting new people..." Kaylen smiled at Ed. "You'll want to watch out for them." Ed rolled his eyes at Kaylen and smiled.

"Wonderful," he said as he layed back on his pillow.


	27. The Boys

Chapter 27

That Monday, Ed and Kaylen were walking down to to breakfast when they ran into Celeste and an unfamiliar boy. He was wearing a boys' school uniform and had medium-length blonde hair. He and Celeste both looked up as Kaylen and Ed approached them.

"Jaysen!" Kaylen said as she hugged the boy. "Where's Kade?"

"Over there with... " he started, but his gray eyes fell on an odd sight.

Kendra was standing a few yards away with a tall boy who had black hair that hung oddly in his eyes. He looked over with light brown eyes and smiled at Kaylen. He left Kendra and came over to where Kaylen and Ed stood.

"Kaylen!" he said as he hugged Kaylen warmly. He had a slight accent, but Ed couldn't place it. "How are you? I'm sorry to say that your sister is as cold as ever."

"True. I'm doing well considering everything," Kaylen said. "You look like you're doing better, too."

"I am, thanks," Kade said with a smile. He then noticed Ed and smiled at him. "Who's this? New friend?"

"Yeah, this is Emily," Kaylen said. "What do you think?"

"Lovely, just lovely," Kade said, and the two friends laughed. They knew something, and they weren't about to tell Ed what was going on. Kade then took a small bag out of his backpack and handed it to Ed. "You're shorter than me, so don't let it drag the ground. Make sure you save me a dance with Kay, okay?" Ed then realized that Kade was giving him the uniform and that he already knew that Ed was a guy. He smiled and nodded as Kade walked away.

"He used to go out with Kendra," Kaylen said to Ed. "She put him through hell, too."

"I can imagine," Ed replied.

They both walked to the cafeteria to find Amie at a table by herself. She looked up and smiled as Ed and Kaylen approached the table.

"Starting to think the guys got prettier this year," Amie said as Ed sat down next to her. "Right, Emily?"

"Sure..." Ed said, raising an eyebrow at her comment. "But I didn't see them last year."

"No, she's right," Kaylen said, sitting down. "Jaysen grew his hair out like I told him to, and Kade has always been pretty. The first time I saw him was when his hair was longer than mine, and I thought he was a girl. He played along with me though, and that's probably why we're still friends. You know he can sing?"

"For real?" Amie asked. "He in a band?"

"Yeah, with some new guys. I hear they're ugly though. Well, Kade even sounds like a girl when he sings. I think he's really a girl underneath it all," Kaylen said with a smile.

"Then he should be here instead of me," Ed mumbled, and Kaylen laughed at him.

"But you look so pretty in that uniform," Amie said, tugging at Ed's skirt. Ed slapped her hand away angrily.

"Watch it, girly," Ed said. "And I thought I'd have to watch out for guys today..."

"I sort of want you to go to the dance as a girl though," Kaylen said, and Ed looked at her with wide eyes. "We could get you a dress and fix your hair..."

"Shut up," Ed said. "Don't I have to get some fancy mess anyway?"

"Well, most guys just wear a dress shirt and a tie or something," Kaylen said.

"That's pretty fancy to me," Ed said. "Then what do I need the uniform for?"

"The day before the dance we all get together and have sort of like a pre-party," Amie explained. "We all wear uniforms."

"Yeah, and Emily is gonna be sick those two days," Kaylen said, smiling. Suddenly, Celeste and Jaysen approached the table hand in hand.

"You guys look sad," Jaysen said as he and Celeste sat down in the remaining chairs.

"Yeah 'cause you're here," Amie said, smiling. "Where's pretty boy?"

"With his band," Celeste said. "They're so awful looking that he has to practically pay the girls to dance with them."

"Don't be so mean," Jaysen said. "They're actually nice guys."

"I'm sure they're very nice," Celeste said, "but they're also very ugly."

"How many went gay this year?" Amie asked, and Jaysen thought for a minute.

"Just Kade," Jaysen said, and Amie's eyes widened.

"Do what?!" she said loudly.

"He's not gay," Kaylen said with an evil glare at Jaysen, who was laughing.

"No... he's still too obsessed with Kaylen for that," Jaysen said. "He just needs to realize that she's not for him."

"Exactly," Kaylen said. "He and I are best as friends. I'd rather he try Amie, though." Amie blushed and looked down as the bell rang for first period.

"See you later," Celeste said to Jaysen before kissing him and standing up.

"They don't have class for another hour," Kaylen said grimly to Ed.

"I'm seriously considering that school instead of this one," Ed said quietly. Kaylen shook her head and laced her arm through Ed's.

"There's just one more week until break," she said. "Don't give up on me now."


	28. Perfect

A/N: Please excuse the total randomness of the next few chapters. I needed a little filler!

--

Chapter 28

The day before the dance approached quicker than Ed thought it would. He put on Kade's uniform to find that it fit almost perfectly except in length. He decided to just roll up the bottom and forget about it. Kaylen just kept on her uniform from that day and helped Ed get rid of the girl side of him from earlier. When he finally looked like a guy again, Ed went to Celeste and Amie's room with Kaylen.

"It's a guy!" Amie said as Ed came in the room. "You've never been so manly in this room before, darling."

"Darling?" Ed repeated, and Amie began to laugh. "Am I even supposed to be in here?"

"Good point," Celeste said. "How do we get him out of _this_ dorm dressed like _that_?"

"Got anything like a towel or an old sheet?" Ed asked.

"Latter of the two," Celeste said, opening her closet door. "I got new sheets this year."

"Perfect. I'll just wear that," Ed said as he took the sheet from Celeste and wrapped it around himself.

"You look like freakin Superman," Amie said, laughing.

I don't own Superman...

"Take that damn thing off!" Kaylen said, pulling the sheet off of Ed as she spoke. "You'll just walk out with us, okay? If anyone has a problem then they can deal with it! I'm not taking shit from anyone until after New Year's." Everyone stared in awe at Kaylen for a moment, and Ed started a slow clap. Amie and Celeste joined in, and Kaylen started laughing. "Shut the hell up. I'm leaving." She headed towards the door. Ed pulled her back by the waist and pressed himself up against her.

"What was that?" he asked with a smile, turning Kaylen so that she faced him. She smiled at him, remembering this scene from so long ago. A tear found it's way down Kaylen's cheek. and she looked down, unable to look Ed in the eyes. Ed pulled her into his arms and held her close.

"I just want us to be together," Kaylen said through sobs. "I don't want to have a low today... It's all your fault!" Ed kissed her on the cheek and smiled.

"I know. So is global warming and starvation in third-world countries," Ed said quietly. "Would you like me to get your medicine?" Kaylen nodded, and Ed left the room. Kaylen stood wiping away tears when Amie and Celeste got up and walked over to her. They took turns hugging their friend.

"Keep him," Amie said, smiling. "Ed's perfect for you."

"You know what happens to everyone you say that about," Kaylen mumbled.

"But he's so great that those rules don't apply," Celeste said. Ed had apparently passed every "test" and had their approval.

"Why did that kid have to mess me up like this?" Kaylen said as another tear rolled down her cheek. "I'm afraid to get close to Ed because of all of that... I'm sure he hates it, because I know I do."

"He doesn't seem to be all about that though," Amie said. "He thinks of you before himself, and he wouldn't force you into something you didn't want."

"Let the boys take a look at him," Celeste said. "Kade's sure to know if he's wrong for you... but you know he bases that off himself."

"I did like him for awhile," Kaylen said quietly. "It was while Kendra had him, though."

"Let him go," Amie said. "I still need a date for tomorrow."

"Did he say yes?" Celeste asked.

"He's gonna answer me tonight," Amie said, smiling. "I feel stupid though, getting excited over nothing. He could have any girl he wanted at this school."

"Except the one he wants," Celeste said with a smile.

"Knock, knock," Ed suddenly said from outside. Kaylen opened the door to see Ed standing with Kade and Jaysen. They all came into the room quietly. Kaylen followed Ed into the bathroom with the medicine in her hand, while everyone else stayed in the other room. "I'm so glad they showed up," Ed said as Kaylen swallowed the first pill. "They just came out of nowhere when I came back out of the room. Said they didn't want me to feel stupid."

"They're nice guys," Kaylen said quietly. Ed looked at her sadly and took the medicine bottle from her.

"Are you okay now?" he asked, wrapping his arms around her waist.

"I hope so," Kaylen replied. "I don't want to ruin this night for everyone."

"Don't say that," Ed said softly. He began to kiss Kaylen's neck gently, savoring the softness of her skin on his lips, but she stopped him.

"Everyone's waiting," she whispered. "It's almost time to leave." Ed nodded and turned to walk out the door when Kaylen grabbed him by the hand. Everything that Amie and Celeste had just said to her was racing through her mind, and she couldn't decide what she really wanted. She kissed Ed gently and rested her head on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Ed." she whispered. "I can't be happy tonight."

"That's fine," Ed said quietly. "We can just forget tonight if you want."

"You go," Kaylen said. "I shouldn't stop you from having fun just because I can't."

"I won't have fun unless you're there," Ed replied. "Let's tough it out tonight, okay?" Kaylen looked at Ed, uncertainty in her eyes.

"Alright," she said, and they went back into the other room.


	29. Confession Number Two

Chapter 29

The party had to be one of the weirdest things Ed had ever been to in his life. He not only had to introduce himself to everyone he met, but he also had to deal with random jerks who looked as though they had planned to be idiots on this one night. One of them spilled punch on Ed, and Kaylen offered to beat him up. Ed shook his head and appologized to Kade.

"Sorry if I screw this thing up," he said.

"It's fine, I'll just have it washed," Kade said with a smile.

"Oh, I didn't mean it like that," Ed said. "I'll clean it myself. I'm talking about when I kick some random guy's ass tonight." He clapped his hands and touched the part of the uniform that the punch got on. The punch separated from the uniform and spilled out on the floor. Ed smiled as he stepped away from the puddle. "Oops..."

Other than this incident, there was another where a girl recognized the resemblence beween Ed and "Emily". He ended up claiming that they were twins and that she was sick tonight. The girl left it at that, but Ed hated that he didn't think all of this stuff through.

On a better note, Ed got to know Kade and Jaysen better. They were both very nice and a lot like himself... only taller. They liked him as well and practically begged Kaylen to let him transfer schools. Naturally, she refused.

The party finally ended at 11:00. Kade decided to go to the dance with Amie under the condition that she quit obsessing over Ed. It was a tough decision, but Amie chose Kade. Kaylen made it through the night without being overly sad, and Celeste and Jaysen were pretty much themselves.

"Tonight was so freaky," Kaylen said as she and Ed walked back to the dorm alone.

"Really..." Ed agreed. "Glad you came?"

"Yeah, actually," Kaylen said. "I got to be with the girls and the guys at the same time... and you of course." She stopped suddenly, pulling Ed back by the hand.

"What? Forget something?" Ed asked. Kaylen bit her bottom lip and looked up at Ed.

"Thanks for being there for me tonight," she said. "I couldn't have done it without you."

"Don't even thank me for that," Ed said, smiling. "You know I'll always be here for you." Kaylen suddenly fell down on the ground and began to cry. "Kaylen..." Ed said as he bent down next to her. "What's wrong?" Kaylen looked up at Ed, tears sliding down her face slowly.

"What's wrong?!" she yelled. "You really want to know?!"

"If I didn't then would I be asking?" Ed replied calmly.

"I... I think I'm in love," Kaylen said softly. Ed breathed a sigh of relief and helped Kaylen up. Then he held her close in an embrace, emotion expressing itself between the two without words.

"Thank you," Ed said. "That's all I needed to hear."

"All you needed to hear?" Kaylen repeated.

"Yeah. I wanted to know if I could get through to you even though what happened..." Ed drifted off, not knowing how to say what he wanted to.

"You wanted to prove that I could defy my past?" Kaylen asked.

"Sort of," Ed said, pulling back so he could look at Kaylen.

"Well, I wanted to prove it, too. I just needed a little help," Kaylen said, smiling through her tears. "I really love you, Ed."

"I love you, too," Ed replied before kissing Kaylen. "Let's go back to the room." On the way back to the dorm, they ran into Amie and Celeste. They had already left the guys and were on their way back as well.

"What's up with you two?" Amie asked.

"Yeah, you're almost too happy looking," Celeste added.

"So what?" Kaylen said, smiling. She squeezed Ed's hand, and for some reason, it reminded Ed of Winry.

_Why would I think of her now?_ he asked himself. "Ah, damn it..." he mumbled.

"What is it?" Kaylen asked.

"Al and Winry are coming out," he said. "I forgot to ask if they can stay at your house."

"I don't see why not," Kaylen said. "They just better not start anything before New Year's 'cause I'm not dealing with it." They finally reached their rooms after the long walk. "Have fun sleeping," Kaylen said with a smile.

"Sure. Have fun..." Amie paused and smiled, "doing whatever the hell you two are gonna do." She looked at Ed. "You better watch it, Ed." Ed smiled and pulled Kaylen into their room.

"Sure thing," he said before shutting the door behind him. He laid down on his bed as Kaylen crossed the room to her closet. She pulled out a change of clothes and faced her bed, her back turned to Ed. Ed watched her with a smile as she changed out of her uniform and into the other clothes. He gasped when he saw several scars on her back. They were short cuts and didn't appear to be very deep, but it still scared Ed that there were any scars at all.

"Stop staring," Kaylen said sadly. "I told you that story already." Ed turned away and sighed.

_Iann again..._ he thought to himself. "If I ever see this guy, I'm gonna knock the life out of him. What's he look like?" Ed asked as Kaylen threw her uniform in the closet. She began to dig around in a drawer until she found a picture. She handed it to Ed and sat down on the bed next to him.

The picture was of Kaylen and Iann, and it looked rather old. Iann was a tall boy with black hair that fell in his eyes. His eyes were so blue that they were almost white, and the way he looked in the picture made him seem like a friendly person. How could this be the person who had caused Kaylen so much pain?

"He doesn't look like a guy you would be into," Ed replied, noticing the earrings on Iann's ears and the tattoo on his stomach.

"I used to be into all of that stuff," Kaylen said, smiling. "I dropped it, though. It just wasn't me." She paused before saying, "You stayed in the guest room. Did you open the closet?"

"Yeah," Ed said quietly. "I just figured you had a brother. He left all his stuff?"

"Not all of it, but most of it," Kaylen replied. "I hadn't been in that room in ages..." Ed pulled Kaylen down so that she was on top of him. Kaylen blushed slightly as Ed placed his arms around her.

"I'm sorry," he whispered. "I just can't keep my hands off of you tonight. It's just not enough to say I love you, so I guess I have to show you."

"Show me?" Kaylen asked. Ed looked at her with eyes that longed for her. He had never in his life felt this much love for one single person. A passion of sorts was this crazed feeling he had for Kaylen. _Is this really love or just lust?_ Kaylen wondered. _Maybe he's just this desperate... Poor guy._

"Please..." Ed whispered, kissing Kaylen tenderly. "I need you, damn it."

"Get out of this uniform," Kaylen whispered. "If Kade knew..."

"Yeah, I know," Ed said as Kaylen sat up. She went over to her own bed as Ed changed out of the uniform and into a pair of jeans. He smiled at Kaylen as he came over to her bed and hovered over her. He kissed her innocently as he climbed on top of her. Kaylen stared up at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"I..." Kaylen started, but closed her eyes. "Nothing. Never mind."

"What is it?" Ed asked. "You can tell me."

"I ran into Kendra at the party," Kaylen said quietly. "She told me something that made me very angry."

"What's that?" Ed asked.

"She said that she was gonna steal you too," Kaylen said.


	30. Interruptions

Chapter 30

"What?" Ed said. "Do you honestly think I'd—"

"Iann said the same thing," Kaylen interrupted. "Look what he did."

"When are you gonna learn?" Ed said loudly. "I am not Iann!" Kaylen looked away sadly and sighed.

"I know..." Kaylen said softly. "I just can't forget. My mind doesn't want to go through it again, so I'm making excuses so I don't have to. It's ruining my life!" She looked back at Ed with sad eyes. "I want to trust and love and be intimate, but my mind ignores my body's desires. Does that make any sense at all?"

"Yeah... but you have to listen to me," Ed said. "I will not let your sister have me. I will not leave you. I will always be here if you need me. You have to believe my words. You have to believe it when I say I want to be with you tonight." He ran his automail hand down Kaylen's face slowly, and Kaylen looked up at him with longing eyes. "I just want you..."

"I want to be with you, too," she whispered. "You're the only one I want." Ed kissed Kaylen intimately for the first time, and Kaylen met his tongue with hers. From there he kissed Kaylen on the cheek and worked his way down her neck.

"No scars here, right?" Ed asked, making sure he didn't intrude where he wasn't wanted.

"Fraid not," Kaylen said as she pulled Ed's hair down and ran her fingers through it, the soft blonde strands tickling her fingers as they fell. She ran her hands down Ed's bare back as Ed brought his kisses back to Kaylen's lips. He pulled back suddenly and stared deeply into Kaylen's eyes.

"Is this for real?" he asked softly. Kaylen smiled and nodded.

"Yeah, I think so," she said. Ed leaned in to kiss her again when Kaylen's phone began to ring loudly.

"Well, it's not anymore," he groaned, reaching over to get the phone. "Hello?"

"Edward?" a worried voice said on the other end. Ed quickly recognized the voice as Al's and sighed.

"What is it, Al?" Ed asked. "I'm in the middle of something."

"I got a message today that I think you might want to hear," Al said.

"Why call so late?" Ed asked, looking at the clock to see that it was 11:35.

"Well, I called only like fifty times already, but no one answered," Al said.

"Oh, we were at a party," Ed said. "Now what's this message?"

"It kinda got ripped up, but what I can read says 'Watch your back'." Al replied.

"Well, watch your back," Ed said. "Don't worry. Just keep your eyes open. You still coming out this weekend?"

"I think so," Al said. "Winry hasn't mentioned it, though."

"I don't think she wants to see either me or Kay," Ed said softly.

"Is that Al?" Kaylen asked, and Ed nodded. "I wanna talk to him!"

"Alright. Al, Kaylen wants to talk to you," Ed said before handing the phone to Kaylen.

"Al?" Kaylen said into the phone.

"Hi Kaylen," Al replied. "How are you?"

"Good, how about you?" Kaylen said, and Ed sighed. He started to lift up Kaylen's shirt slowly, and Kaylen started to laugh. "Well, I hope you two can come out. You're both welcome at my house." Ed continued to lift up Kaylen's shirt until she slapped him. She said goodbye to Al and hung up the phone. "Don't you have the decency to not do things like that when I'm on the phone?"

"Not when the call interrupts us!" Ed said loudly. There suddenly was a knock on the wall that their room shared with Celeste and Amie's room.

"Who gets calls at midnight?" Amie yelled through the wall. Ed got up and went to the wall quickly. He clapped his hands together and touched the wall, creating a door. Then he opened it and went into Amie and Celeste's room.

"Stop interrupting!" he yelled, annoyed. He shut the door angrily and walked back to Kaylen. He placed himself back on top of her and sighed. "Now then..." There was a click, and Amie appeared in the newly-made doorway.

"What did I tell you?" she said, making Ed and Kaylen look up. "I said you better watch it, didn't I?"

"What the hell?" Ed said, turning to face Amie. "I just wanna kiss my girlfriend, and apparently the universe has a problem with that."

"Well be quieter about it and we'll be okay," Amie said, turning to leave. "Oh, and can we keep this door? It's a lot more convienent than going the long way."

"Yeah, sure, whatever!" Ed said, and Amie finally left. Ed sighed and looked down at Kaylen. "Where were we?" Kaylen smiled and reached up to place her hands behind Ed's head. She pulled him close and kissed him lovingly, his lips returning the kiss soon after. Kaylen pulled the blanket out from under her and threw it over Ed and herself.

"Right about here," she whispered.


	31. Weakness

And there was no sex! glares at pookie

Chapter 31

Kaylen woke up the next morning feeling somewhat different. She stretched her arms out and hit something. Curious, she began to use her hands to figure out what this was.

"Hey, I don't grope your face, do I?" a tired voice said. Suprised, Kaylen opened her eyes to see Ed lying underneath her, his warm body greeting her in all the right places. The unknown object was his face, which now held a look of annoyance and a bit of anger.

"Sorry," Kaylen said. "Why's it so cold in here?" She reached down to grab the blanket and figured out why it was so cold—she wasn't wearing a shirt. She covered herself up in the blanket and rolled off of Ed. Ed mumbled something about not sharing and pulled some of Kaylen's blanket from her. "Hey, I don't have a shirt."

"Neither do I," Ed replied drowsily.

"You're a guy though," Kaylen said, shutting her eyes.

"Guys get cold too, believe it or not," Ed said, getting slightly irritated. "Hey, what time is it?" Kaylen looked over at the clock and gasped.

"1:30!" she yelled, jumping out of bed. Ed looked at her like she was crazy and rolled over with the blanket.

"What's the big deal?" Ed mumbled, instantly regretting his words, for Kaylen ripped the blanket away from him.

"Get up," she said. "Get decent. We have to go into town today. I don't have a dress for the dance."

"Get decent?" Ed said, smiling. "Look who's talking."

"Shut up and get ready!!" Kaylen yelled, throwing Ed's uniform at him. "We can go without a chaperone today, so be a guy."

"I'm so androgynous," Ed sighed, getting up. "It's kinda sad." Both of them changed and then went over to Amie and Celeste's room through the new door. "I am feeling this door! Who's with me?"

"Me!" Amie said, smiling. "I like the door. Don't you, Celeste?"

"It just means they can barge in faster," Celeste complained.

"Yeah, but maybe Ed will run out of soap one day and come over here to borrow some, wearing..." Amie drifted off, apparently enjoying the image she was getting.

"I'm telling Kade!!" Kaylen said, pointing wildly at Amie.

"Maybe I'm just not cut out for him if he can't take my obsession," Amie replied.

"Look, let's just get going," Celeste said, standing up. The four of them left and went into town, looking for a place that sold dresses. Kaylen finally spotted a store, and they walked toward it. The others started to go in, but Kaylen stood gaping at something in the front window.

"What?" Ed asked, looking up. There he saw a manequin wearing a black and white dress. It was cut short at the knees and was strapless. The bottom half consisted of black and white stripes, while the top was solid black with a white bow at the top.

"It's gorgeous..." Kaylen breathed, and Ed started to pull her into the store.

"Okay, let's go ask about it then," Ed said, following Amie and Celeste into the store. Kaylen ended up getting the dress in the window. Celeste got a longer, more conservative blue dress that somehow made her look taller. Amie's dress was black and red, and the length was somewhere in between Kaylen's dress and Celeste's dress. The girls dragged Ed to another store afterwards so that he could get something to wear also. Ed was vaguely reminded of the time that he had to buy girl clothes, and he reminded Kaylen of it as well.

"Yeah, that was fun," Kaylen said, smiling as she helped Ed put on a jacket. "This is the one..." Ed looked at himself in the mirror and agreed. The jacket was black and, with a white undershirt, would match Kaylen's dress perfectly.

"Yay..." Ed said as they left the store. "We're done..." They walked out of the store and began their way back.

"I'm sorry about using your money, Ed," Celeste said. "I'll pay you back when I can."

"Don't worry about it," Ed replied.

"He's so rich he doesn't need our money," Kaylen said.

"Oh? I don't see you pretending to be a member of the opposite sex to get documents that you don't care anything about," Ed argued. "I _earn_ what I make."

"In that case I better be getting something," Kaylen said. "You're nothing without me."

"Watch it," Ed said. "I could do this without you easy."

"No way," Kaylen said, smiling.

"You think I need you?!" Ed said angrily. Kaylen looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Last time I checked you did," she said confidently. "You only said it all last night. Or was that just to take advantage of me?"

"What?!" Ed yelled, attempting to lunge at Kaylen. Amie grabbed him by the arms and pulled him back as Kaylen stepped away. "Come and say that to my face! You don't know how I feel..."

"Ed..." Kaylen whispered as Amie and Celeste held Ed in place.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Amie asked. "You can't talk like that."

"I'm sick of this!" Ed said loudly. "You're so weak you have your friends do this for you? What kind of friendship is that?"

"I..." Kaylen said softly, backing away even more. "You really mean that?"

"Kaylen, you're full of weakness!" Ed yelled. "You do everything anyone ever tells you to do, and that is weak."

"Shut up!" Kaylen yelled before turning and running away. _I thought he was different... _Kaylen's mind picked at the new thoughts that Ed had placed there. She sighed when she realized she couldn't run anymore. Her long legs collapsed underneath her, the action prodding the tears behind her eyes. _I thought he was human._


	32. Decency

Chapter 32

Ed stared after Kaylen as she ran from him, a nasty taste in his mouth that combined the esences of bad pick up lines and burnt cookies. _What did I just say? I must be crazy..._ A sad expression creeped up his face, pathetic and lonely looking. Amie somehow found the room in her heart to feel sympathetic towards this sad creature, but the look on Celeste's face dared to compete with the sympathy that Amie's heart offered. Enraged, she drew out the anger and force within her and redirected it to her fists.

Her right fist collided with Ed's bare cheek before he had the time to blink.

"How dare you?!" she yelled. Amie latched on to Celeste, for now she was the one who needed to be held back. The slight redness in Ed's cheek wasn't enough to satisfy Celeste's need for violence, however, for despite Amie's grip on her, Celeste pulled her arm back, ready to let another punch go.

Ed was totally taken aback, a look of awe and amazement in his eyes. _This is Celeste, right? Quiet, innocent Celeste?_ The spot on his face that had made contact with Celeste's fist was actually hurting as well.

"What are you doing?!" Amie found herself yelling as well, either out of anger or the sheer discomfort in that everyone was but her.

"She's dreaming if she thinks she'll get me out of here alive!" Celeste gasped, anger that had been built up so long finally flooding out in a wave of yells and tears. Ed was not the source of her instant anger; he was only the trigger on the gun that shot at her. "He let her drown, Amie. He watched her drown and did nothing to help."

"I..." Amie managed to say as Celeste turned and fell into the girl's arms, tears like drops of rage falling from her eyes.

"He knew the spots to stab her at, and that's all," Celeste murmured, glaring at Ed through the pristine collection of tears in her eyes. "If you can't treat a girl with decency then why even try?!"

The words were like knives to Ed's heart, which seemed to be more vulnerable these days. _Decency..._ the word repeated in Ed's mind, a broken record that just wouldn't shut up.

"Go to her, Ed," Amie said, her voice barely above a whisper. "You're the only one who can help her now."

"Treat her right, or I'll have your sorry ass!" Celeste yelled after Ed as he began to run down the road in the direction that Kaylen had went.

He saw her, frighteningly enough, sitting in a tree on a branch. She gripped a flower in her right hand, the red petals standing out against the green of the tree leaves. Suprisingly, her eyes were dry, and she looked a little too happy for what just happened.

"He loves me... He loves me not..." she said, her voice sing-song like. The red petals fluttered back to Earth as Kaylen pulled them out, one by one.

"He loves you," Ed called up to Kaylen, who looked down at him quickly. "And he's sorry."

"This is getting real old," Kaylen complained, twirling the stem of the flower around. She cocked her head to one side, letting her long bangs fall in her eyes as she glared down at the boy beneath her.

"I..." Ed began to say something but stopped short when Kaylen began smiling down at him. She had an odd look in her eyes, like she wasn't really awake at all. Throwing the stem down, she leaned dangerously over the edge of the branch, making Ed uncomfortable in so many ways.

"Catch me, Ed," Kaylen said. As soon as she said these words, she slid off the branch, which had to be more than ten feet off the ground. Ed watched her, fear surfacing in his eyes. Fortunately, he caught her safely in his arms.

"Are you crazy?" Ed asked, looking down at the girl in his arms. Kaylen shook her head faintly, a smile finding its way to her lips. She loved the way Ed felt holding her, his strong arms cradling her in a way that made her feel safe. She couldn't be mad at him for what he said because she knew every word was the truth.

_The truth hurts,_ Kaylen concluded as Ed's mouth neared hers, engulfing her in a kiss that she never wanted to pull away from. She explored Ed's mouth eagerly, swirling her tongue in a fashion that sent chills down Ed's spine. _The truth... I love this boy with not only my heart and mind but my body, too._ When she opened her eyes, Ed was placing her on the ground gently. _He's got me no matter what..._

"You're usually not one to forgive and forget," Ed admitted, holding Kaylen by both arms. "What's up with doing it now?"

"Who said I was?" Kaylen said, smiling at the flash of fear it sent through Ed's eyes.

She wouldn't forget this yet. Revenge was way too sweet for that sort of thing.

They began to walk back towards Amie and Celeste, hand in hand. Ed still looked a bit nervous, possibly even afraid, and Kaylen just had to smile.


	33. Christmas Dance

Chapter 33

The demon lord hath spoken! Tis time for the dance!

chewy is not the demon lord...lol

The filler is almost over... yayy!

--

It seemed like it took the girls hours to get ready. Ed was accompanied by Kade and Jaysen in his own room while the girls changed and fixed and complained in the next room. The boys glanced at one another and sighed—It was going to be a long night.

"This is gonna suck so much," Jaysen sighed, lying back on Ed's bed.

"Well, they want this night a little too much," Kade said. "Let's let them have their fun, and maybe we'll get a little reward ourselves later on." The three boys smirked slyly at each other, wordlessly agreeing to Kade's idea.

"Sure..." Ed mumbled to himself, a touch of worry in his voice. Kaylen just hadn't been the same since he snapped earlier. Celeste was still mad as well, but that was a given. Ed would be suprised if he got three words out of her tonight that weren't "I hate you".

But then again, he did deserve his punishment.

There was a knock and a poor imitation of a drum roll most likely performed by Amie. The boys looked up as the three girls came into the room, fully dressed and ready. Ed gasped when he saw Kaylen—this had to be her at the best he'd ever seen her. She walked over to Ed, who stood up and almost fell over clumsily on her.

"Oh, I really must look good," she said, smiling. Ed fell on his knees in front of her and hugged her legs forcefully.

"Take it off, damn it," he whimpered. "Too gorgeous for lowly eyes." The others laughed at Ed's comment but said nothing on the matter.

It was finally time to leave. The three couples decsended the stairs and headed towards the main building. Ed took a deep breath before opening the door and holding it open for the others. Kaylen smiled at him and kissed him gently.

"Let's go have fun, okay?" she said, pressing only her forehead to his. Ed smiled against Kaylen's next kiss, fighting the urge to rip the beautiful dress off of her right here and now.

But he could wait until later for that. He hoped.

The dance consisted of a little bit of everything... except actual dancing. Ed and Kade stuffed their faces full of food while everyone else was busy socializing with their friends. It was at one of these moments when Kade turned to Ed, a serious look overtaking his usually laid-back personality.

"Hey, Ed..." he said as Ed took a drink of his punch.

"Hmm?" Ed replied, setting his drink down. Kade looked a bit uncomfortable, embarassed about the question he was about to ask.

"I have to ask..." Kade began, his voice almost lost in the music, "what are your plans after this? You going back to Kay's place?"

"Yeah, I guess," Ed said. "Not welcome anywhere else."

"You have to promise me," Kade said. "Promise that you'll back off until she wants to."

"What do you...?" Ed started, but the look in Kade's eyes answered the question.

"She's one of the few in this world that I can really open up to," Kade said softly. "She's been through too much. You have to respect her feelings before your own desires."

"Sure," Ed said, smiling at Kade. Kade smiled back, a warm smile that took Ed by suprise. _This guy is way too feminine,_ Ed voiced internally.

And so, Ed's later plans were ruined. Entirely.

The last dance was the one you were supposed to remember, the one you always hated if you didn't have a date. Ed refused to dance, and Kaylen was close to tears.

"Stop ruining this for me!" she said, tugging at Ed's arm. "I just want this one, measly dance. Pleeaaaassseeee!!"

"Okay, okay..." Ed groaned, and Kaylen pulled him onto the dance floor. They held each other close and swayed back and forth with the crowd. Ed looked at Kaylen, annoyed that he had to look up at the freakishly tall girl. She smiled back at him, and their foreheads touched gently. They shared a kiss, and Ed whispered, "I love you..."

"I..." Kaylen was cut off by the song ending and people shuffling noisily around them. Celeste and Jaysen had disapeared into the crowd. Jaysen had an apartment nearby, and Kaylen decided not to wait up for her. She smiled as she mentally pictured Celeste's mom's reaction to her staying the night with Jaysen.

Kade had decided to come back with Amie so she wouldn't feel lonely. Amie protested since Kaylen had already said that she and Ed could manage one bed and she could stay in their room. A quick touch of his lips to hers changed her mind.

Kaylen went to unlock the door and suddenly recieved a bad feeling about it. Her lip trembled, and she dropped the keys. Ed took the hint and unlocked the door for her. There happened to be something waiting for them inside—more document pages. It was almost all of them, but two or three were missing.

"What an ," Ed muttered. "If you're gonna just hand them over then hand _all_ of them over!"

"He's not just handing them over," Kaylen said. "He's probably got some big scheme for the final bang. Something we'll all remember."

"Oh, it gets worse than this?" Ed said, throwing himself down on his bed. Next door they heard Kade and Amie enter the room, and Kaylen sighed.

"You talk about this like it's a bad thing, but didn't you gain _anything_ from this?" Kaylen asked as she joined Ed on his bed.

"If you're talking about you, then yes," Ed replied, laying his head in Kaylen's lap. "Do you remember the day we met?"

"Yeah, I do..." Kaylen said, stroking Ed's face with her hand. "I thought you were really short, and you looked like a really stupid, cocky jerk. So much for first impressions."

"Yep, and I thought you were some drill instructor wanna-be with a lousy temper and a big mouth," Ed said, a smile surfacing on his lips. "But I could tell that you had some baggage."

"Really?" Kaylen said softly. "How?"

"People with low confidence seem to talk a lot," Ed said. "Weird but true."

"Are you saying that I talk a lot?" Kaylen asked.

"If you didn't then would we be having this discussion?" Ed shot back, his smile widening. Kaylen sighed in defeat as Ed sat up and undid his jacket, throwing it to the end of the bed and replacing himself in Kaylen's lap. "You can do the rest."

From where she was sitting, Kaylen could reach the first few buttons on Ed's shirt. She reached over and undid them slowly, running her fingers down Ed's chest as she moved to the next button. The smile on Ed's lips confused her—it either meant, "Yes, I like this" or "She has no idea what's going on". Either way, she undid the shirt, revealing Ed's bare chest to the cold air.

"Turn up the damn heat," Ed mumbled once his shirt was open. Kaylen got up and went to turn the heat up, and Ed lay there silently. Next door he heard nothing. Curious, he quietly transmuted a peep hole in the wall so he could see in. He saw Kade lying on the bed, a sleeping Amie on his chest. _So much for his idea..._ Ed thought, smiling.

"Something wrong?" Kaylen said, snaking her way into Ed's arms.

"Nah, I just didn't hear anything over there," Ed replied. "Scared me a little. Amie's always screaming at the top of her lungs..."

"Oh..." was all Kaylen said. She got up and wandered over to her own bed slowly, leaving a lonely Ed in his current state of confusion.

"Hey, what's this all about?" Ed asked, suddenly missing the warm body he was only seconds ago holding.

"Earlier," Kaylen said, pulling out a change of clothes. "I'm not one to forgive and forget, remember?" Ed frowned and rolled over, his back now facing Kaylen.

"Night, Ed," Kaylen called from across the room. "I love you."

_Sometimes I wish I didn't,_ Ed thought, staring blankly at the wall.


	34. Home for the Holidays

Chapter 34

The next day, everyone went their seperate ways for Christmas break. Ed and Kaylen took the first train out to Mascradé and slept the whole way there. Amie lived a few miles away, and Celeste lived in a town about 30 minutes away, so needless to say, the girls would be by before school started back.

When they finally reached their destination, they met Al at the station.

"I couldn't drag Winry with me," he said sadly. "She wanted to be at home..."

"That's okay," Kaylen said, smiling warmly. "I'm glad you could come, Al."

Al stared at Kaylen silently, noticing a change in her. _She seems a little more confident,_ Al noted. _Did Brother do this?_ Kaylen suddenly grabbed both boys by the arms and led them towards her house.

"This'll be fun, right?" she asked. "Hopefully nothing will screw _this_ up..." She glared at Ed silently, and Ed smiled nervously.

"Sure... It'll be fine," Ed said after a moment.

It turned out that everything was definitely _not_ fine. Kendra was waiting on the trio, a terribly false smile on her face. Kaylen's mom pulled Kaylen aside and told her that she had to try and deal with her—she was staying the entire break. Kaylen ran off to her room, leaving the brothers with the evil that was Kendra.

"Hi there," Kendra said, smiling as she approached Ed. "Funny little boy, aren't you?" Ed gave her a solid stare glazed over with hatred. Kendra then looked to Al, a questioning look in her eyes. "You... are?"

"Umm..." Al started to be nice and answer the question, but Ed quickly interrupted him.

"Why're you here?" Ed asked angrily. Kendra shrugged and replaced her body on the couch.

"Same reason you are," Kendra replied. "Nowhere else to go, minus the fact that you're trying to get in my sister's pants. What an awful little boy..."

"Shut up!" Ed said, neither confirming nor denying Kendra's last statement. "You shouldn't even be allowed to call her your sister after what you put her through."

"Please. Iann was _way _too long ago to still be holding a grudge over," Kendra said.

"Wanna bet?" Ed said in a low voice, his eyes tense with anger. Kendra looked away as Ed started back into Kaylen's room. She grabbed him by the wrist as he walked by.

"You know, if you can't get her to give in, I'm always down the hall," she said in a low voice. Ed pulled away from Kendra's grip, enraged at her words.

"I don't have time for you," Ed mumbled, walking away with Al close behind. The two boys went into Kaylen's room silently to find her lying on the floor. Ed bent down and tried to get her to sit up.

"What's the point? I'm gonna be her mat for two weeks, why not act like one?" Kaylen said angrily.

"Could someone please tell me who that was?" Al asked. Ed and Kaylen went off into a mile-long rant about this girl, and Al suddenly regretted his question. "She did seem a bit mean, but I figured it was Brother that she had the bad blood with. Everyone seems to hate you these days..."

"Shh..." Kaylen said. "You hear that?" The brothers listened intently but heard nothing.

"What?" Ed asked. Kaylen smiled at him and pressed an ear to his chest. Ed blushed immediately, somewhat taken aback by Kaylen's actions.

"Your heartbeat sped up. I could feel it in the floor," Kaylen explained.

"I worry about you," Ed replied, holding the girl close. _At least she isn't playing doormat anymore..._

"Hmm... well boyfriends were made to worry," Kaylen replied, "or cheat. Whichever comes first."

"Shut up," Ed whispered, burying his face in her hair.

"Uh, you want me to leave?" Al asked, and the couple suddenly remembered that he was in the room. They smiled at each other; they'd been alone way too long.

"Nah," Kaylen said, sitting up and pulling away from Ed. "So what've you been up to?"

"Other than getting death threats in the mail, absolutely nothing," Al said. "Of course, comforting that sad girl we call Winry takes more energy than you'd imagine." Kaylen suddenly looked down, a sadness in her eyes.

"Does she hate me or what?" Kaylen asked, her voice light and weak. Al looked at her silently, unable to answer the question. Ed tilted Kaylen's face up so that their eyes met.

"Listen, you didn't do _anything_. I'm the guilty one here..." he said softly.

"Shut up," Kaylen said. "I don't want your words. I want Al's." She looked at Al with fierce eyes.

"No, I think she hates herself a little more than anyone else," Al said. "She's a mess."

"I..." Ed stared to say something, but stopped suddenly.

_I can appologize to her a million times, but it'll never make anything better._


	35. Nothing

Chapter 35

more filler... am I like the queen of filler or what?

--

The next morning, Ed woke up in Kaylen's unbelievably comfortable bed to find that Kaylen wasn't there with him. He sighed and rolled over on his back, staring at the ceiling above him. The silence was soothing to his ears after all that had happened these past few days. Suddenly, the door opened, revealing Al.

"Hey, you awake?" he asked. Ed mumbled a reply and rolled over to look at him. "You mind getting up then? You need to explain a few things to me."

"Like what?" Ed asked quietly.

"Like this," Al answered, holding a notebook out. It was Ed's school notebook, and the only thing written in it were alchemy notes. "You're at an _alchemy_ school?"

"No, they just have one alchemy class," Ed replied from under the blanket. "Is that all? Can I resume my sleep?"

"Not exactly," Al said. "I know you know all about Kaylen's past now. Tell me what happened to her."

"Why?" Ed asked, slightly angered by the fact that he wanted to know about _his_ girlfriend.

"Because I'm worried..." Al said quietly. "I don't know how to help her if I don't know what the problem is."

"Fine..." Ed sat up and summarized everything he knew about Kaylen's past to Al. Almost as soon as he finished, the brothers heard yelling in the next room. Al started to leave, but Ed stopped him. All this time with Kaylen had taught him that she needed to release her anger by yelling, and she couldn't do it with anyone watching.

"Why did you even come here in the first place?!" Kaylen's words were crystal clear in the next room. "Just to make my life a living hell a little longer?!"

"No, I came because I'm sick of this!" Kendra yelled in reply. "I'm sick of being the awful child, the one no one wants anything to do with! You're not the only victim here, Kay!"

Ed went to the wall and pressed his ear against it, straining to hear what Kendra was saying. Al stayed back; he didn't want to get caught in something he knew nothing about.

"I'm about to tell you something no one else knows," Kendra said in a low voice. "When I was thirteen, I was raped. I didn't know the guy, and I didn't even care. That's why I'm the way I am, I guess. I'm trying to correct something I have no control over. I'm sorry about Iann. I guess you having true love didn't work too well with me." Kendra sounded like she was crying now. "I just wanted love too!"

Ed didn't listen anymore. He crossed the room and got back into bed quietly, sighing as he pulled the blanket over himself. _This family is seriously screwed over, even compared to mine._ Al left the room, probably going to check on the two girls next door. Ed couldn't go back to sleep, and he was really annoyed by this. The door opened, and someone climbed into the bed with Ed. Ed opened his eyes and saw Kaylen there, a smile on her face.

"You heard it all," she said.

"How'd you figure that out?" Ed said, pulling the girl close to him.

"You're just like that," Kaylen whispered, her lips brushing against Ed's cheek.

"You think you know me that well, huh?" Ed said, smiling as he climbed on top of Kaylen. He kissed her lightly, and she pulled him back down for more. "Too early for this," Ed murmured as Kaylen switched roles with Ed and now had him pinned to the bed.

"Since when is 2:00 early?" she asked, letting her lips glide down Ed's neck.

"Since my brother could walk in any minute now," Ed said.

"It'll be a learning expirence. And my sister's here too, stupid," Kaylen said as Ed pulled her hair down along with Kaylen herself. Their hips touched for a moment, long enough for Ed to gasp. Kaylen smiled and ran her tongue down the line where skin met steel. Ed, apparently overly-sensitive there, tried to jerk away from the girl, but she had him where she wanted him. She explored the inside of Ed's mouth for maybe the millionth time and pulled Ed's bottom lip with her own lips.

((this next part is for pookie. -air hug-))

"I need coffee..." Ed mumbled, and Kaylen "accidentally" bit his lip. "Hey!" he said, licking away the blood that came.

"Am I that boring?" she asked, a bit of anger in her eyes.

"No, actually you're quite entertaining," Ed said, "but you're not coffee, now are you?" Kaylen groaned and fell off of Ed slowly, letting him get up to make coffee. She lay there in silence and was almost asleep again when Ed returned with two steaming cups of coffee.

"That smells good..." Kaylen said softly. Ed handed her a cup, and the two of them indulged in their hot, chocolate-colored liquid. Kaylen continued thinking, something she'd been doing a lot lately. She glanced at Ed with a meloncholy stare, wondering silently what he'd do when he found the last document pages. Would he head back to Central and never speak to her again? Or would he stay with her for a bit longer, or even the rest of the year? She couldn't bring herself to ask Ed the question, and the room remained quiet.

"Kay..." Ed voiced the name sadly, setting his coffee down on the nightstand. "You alright in there?" He placed his hands on either side of her head and shook it lightly. "Hello? I come in peace..." Kaylen suddenly lunged forward, pulling Ed into her and clinging tightly to him.

"You can't leave me, Ed," she whispered. "Then I'll have nothing all over again..."

"Whoa, who said I was leaving?" Ed asked, carefully placing his arms around the girl.

"After you get the documents..." Kaylen said. "You'll leave and I'll never see you again."

Ed hadn't planned on this. It hadn't occurred to him that he'd have to go back to Central, back to his search after all of this. He didn't know what to say; he really didn't think this one through. He sighed heavily and rested his head on Kaylen's shoulder.

"You'll see me again," Ed said softly. "I promise."


	36. More nothing

Chapter 36

het fluff. filler. you can flame this chapter if you want, i'm not so fond of it myself.

--

The rest of the break was pretty much the same—sleep, coffee, and more sleep. Kaylen and Kendra were trying to patch things up between the two of them, filling each other in on what has happened in their lives since Kendra was sent south.

Ed, meanwhile, was racked with guilt over what was happening to him and Kaylen. After the sudden realization that they only had a small amount of time left, they began to avoid each other more, somehow convinced that it would hurt less if they started now. Ed had even started staying in the guest room with Al, and it was definitely killing both of them inside.

School seemed to start back way too soon. Al took an earlier train back to Risembool, while the other three, accompanied by Celeste and Amie, took a train after lunch. Ed sat in another seat, leaving an entire seat for the girls.

"Are you two fighting?" Amie asked, noticing Ed's distant behavior.

"Something like that," Kaylen said softly. "It's fine... Don't worry about it. So how about Kade? Anything new?"

"Sorta... I think it's safe to say we're talking now," Amie replied. "He's so unbelieveably sweet for the jerk I've always treated him like."

"Yeah... but that's his weakness," Kendra said softly. Amie nodded, and the two girls smiled at each other. Celeste suddenly got up and sat opposite Ed as the other girls continued talking.

"Hey, I think we should let the bad blood go, okay?" she said. "Start off clean this year."

"Sure..." Ed said softly. Celeste stared at him silently before asking him to move over so that she could sit next to him. She placed her lips close to his ear, making Ed jump slightly.

"What _really_ happened?" she asked. "Any other day you two would be glued at the hip."

"I..." Ed lowered his voice and looked at Celeste with worried eyes. "We just realized that I'm going to have to leave soon."

"That's dumb," Celeste said shortly, twisting a lock of hair around her finger. "Then you should try to make the most of right now, while you're still together. Nothing lasts forever, Ed. You've got to understand that." Ed stared at the girl, another thought surfacing in his mind.

"I wonder... if it's _me_ she's thinking of when she kisses me," Ed said sadly. "Maybe it's Iann who's on her mind... maybe I'm just a fill-in."

"You don't know Kay very well then, do you?" Celeste said with a smile. She got up and went back to her seat. Ed sighed and sunk down in his seat.

They arrived at Kedrune and headed towards the school first. Ed had dressed very androgynous-like so that he didn't have to change before they reached the school. All Ed wanted to do was crawl in his bed, but they had to go to an assembly. He and Kaylen were unpacking afterwards, still unable to speak to each other. Kaylen had her back turned to Ed, hiding the look on her face. Ed looked at her sadly but couldn't say anything to her. They didn't say a word to each other the entire night.

The next day, Ed was unable to take this torture anymore; he grabbed Kaylen by the arms and looked at her, eyes tense. She stared back, somewhat frightened.

"This is _so_ damn stupid, and I just can't take it anymore!" he said before kissing the girl for the first time in two weeks. Tears stung at Kaylen's eyes as Ed wrapped his arms around her, holding her close and trembling in need.

"But..." Kaylen started to protest, but the look in Ed's eyes changed her mind. An odd longing, a sweet passion burned into her, and she couldn't refuse that stare. Forceful hands pushed her back onto the bed and felt their way down her shoulders, her arms.

"I _really_ missed this," Ed breathed, a small smile on his lips. He let his mouth brush against Kaylen's cheek, and Kaylen found herself pulling Ed closer. Small, steady breaths hit her neck, and soon lips joined them, caressing her lightly. Kaylen gasped into Ed's ear, giving him the incentive to continue. He bit her gingerly, slowly covering his tracks with a warm tongue. Kaylen tilted her head back slightly, closing her eyes as Ed's tongue met her collarbone. He stopped shortly to pull the shirt over his head and reposition himself on the awaiting girl, straddling her hips.

An unfamilliar longing was in the blue of Kaylen's eyes, something Ed was sure he'd never seen in _her_ eyes before. A smile tugged at the boy's lips; she was _loving _this. He decided he would tease her to the point of insanity, until her fingernails tore through the sheets in need.

Suddenly, the couple heard the soft splash of rain hit the window, drops staining the glass with slow-falling tears. Kaylen could fell her eyes begin to water, but she dismissed the tears angrily. _I always ruin everything... can't we just have this moment?_ Ed slipped his hands between Kaylen and her shirt, cold metal coming into contact with warm skin. He pulled the shirt over her head and tossed it down next to his own. Kaylen ran her fingers through soft blonde locks as Ed layed his head on her chest sleepily.

"That rain is making me tired," Ed said softly as Kaylen ran a slender hand down his cheek. Kaylen sighed, Ed moving with her chest as it fell. Ed wrapped his arms around Kaylen's waist and closed his eyes.

"Don't go to sleep on me," Kaylen said, nudging Ed lightly as she put an arm around the boy. Ed grinned and kissed the closest patch of skin, his hands wandering up Kaylen's back, feeling every single bone on the slender girl. He struggled clumsily with Kaylen's bra, smiling when it finally unhooked. Kaylen bit her lip as Ed threw her bra into the pile of clothes that was collecting on the floor.

"God, I am so damn sleepy..." Ed mumbled, falling helplessly on the girl beneath him again. "Can we save the rest for later?"

"I guess..." Kaylen said softly. _He always does that when it's my turn..._ But she couldn't be mad; they were finally _done_ with the stupidity of ignoring each other. Ed's breath slowed, and Kaylen held him close to her, smiling into the blonde boy's hair.

They weren't expecting what happened next.


	37. Unwanted

Chapter 37

THE DAMN EVIL FILLER IS GONE!!!! -cackles evily-

Listen to "Honey, this mirror isn't big enough for the two of us" by My Chemical Romance for this chapter. And _tell me_ you aren't glad the filler's gone!

--

Both Ed and Kaylen were asleep now, the only sounds in the room being their breathing and the steady drone of rain outside. Voices began yelling outside, breaking the soothing silence in the room. Kaylen stirred, a soft groan sounding in her throat.

_Who the hell is yeling?_ The voice was vaguely familiar, but she knew it wasn't Celeste or Amie. The yell had waken Ed as well, and he growled at the invisible speaker.

"Go tell them to shut up," Ed said groggily.

"I would if you'd move," Kaylen replied. Ed kissed her neck and rolled off of her effortlessly.

"Don't take too long," Ed mumbled as Kaylen grabbed her shirt and put it on before walking to the door. The door opened before she reached it, revealing someone whom she really didn't care to see.

Winry Rockbell was staring her straight in the face.

Amie and Celeste stood behind her, somewhat exhausted looking. Apparently they were her chaperones, and she had been yelling the whole way up.

Winry walked past Kaylen and over to the half-awake Ed. "What did you do with Al?"

"Win...ry? What are you doing here?" he asked, ignoring Winry's question.

"Where is Al?!" Winry yelled as Ed sat up.

"Hell if I know. Isn't he back at your place?" Ed replied, rubbing his eyes.

"No, he isn't. He never came home after he came out here," Winry said angrily. Ed's eyes widened at her words. Al wasn't the type of person to go off somewhere and not say a word to anyone about it. Ed suddenly remembered the clue and the letter that Al had recieved.

"Shit," Ed mumbled, getting up and throwing his shirt on. He tossed a look at Kaylen, and she nodded, leaving the room with Amie and Celeste.

"This is crazy..." Kaylen whispered as she entered Amie and Celeste's room.

"Who is that?" Celeste asked.

"She certainly has a mouth on her," Amie complained.

"She's the one Ed left... for me," Kaylen said softly.

"What was she going on about?" Amie asked. "Someone named Al and something about you two stealing him from her?"

"No... Al is Ed's brother," Kaylen said. "He's gone off, and apparently nobody knows where he is. That's not good considering the poem we found."

"Oh, there was something on your door," Celeste said, pulling a slip of paper from her pocket. Kaylen read it, eyes widening as she read.

_Missing boy awaits_

_Tonight the stone will be mine_

_At the central point._

"You have to be kidding me..." she breathed.

--

"What are you doing here?" Ed asked, looking at Winry with fierce eyes. "You could've easily called and said this. You didn't have to come."

"I hate to say this..." Winry looked away from Ed, a soft look in her eyes. "I _had_ to see you. It's kind of scary, but I had this odd feeling that I had to see you... Like I would die if I didn't."

"Sorry," Ed said. "Sorry I don't live up to your expectations. I've changed since you knew me. I'm in love now, and that won't change just because you start whispering sweet words in my ear."

"But you're going to leave her," Winry smiled. "Once you finish what you came for, you'll leave that poor girl. She'll sit and wait for you, but you'll never come home to her. I _know_ what she's going to feel like."

The words seeped into Ed slowly, and he was desperately thinking of a way to prove this girl wrong. _I can't be this horrible... Am I really going to do this?_ He frowned, balling his hands into fists.

"I can't help it, okay?!" Ed half-yelled. "I'm stuck. I have a job that takes me wherever the hell it wants. I've got a girl and the military pulling me on two different leashes in two different directions, and I'll admit, It sucks. But what can I do?"

"You can stop thinking that you know everything!" Winry yelled, tears filling her eyes. "You need to find Al. He probably needs you now." She turned to leave when Ed grabbed her by the arm.

"I'm sorry you came out here for nothing," he said softly. Winry pulled away from Ed with a quick jerk.

"Shut up," Winry said quietly. "I don't need your sympathy." She walked out without another word, going back the way she came. Ed stared after her, eyes wide in realization.

((this next part is beautiful. try not to cry now!))

True, Edward Elric had never been known to break down in these sorts of situations, but suddenly, all of the pain and stress that had been supressed for so long came crawling up his throat. He was so glad it was Saturday; there was almost no one in the dorm to hear him scream. A form of emotional expression formerly unknown to the boy came trickling down his face—the fierce Fullmetal was _crying_, falling to his knees in surrender. It started out as sobless drops of anguish slowly tainting his face, but soon his shoulders began to shake, breathing labored with sobs.

And it felt so damn _good_.

The door behind him opened, and Kaylen walked in, gripping the clue in her hand. The sight was enough to keep her crying for days. Ed looked up at her with blurred, overflowing, _ashamed_ eyes; this boy was only human, after all.

"Shh..." Kaylen bent down and cradled Ed in her arms, letting the boy get all of the anger and stress out of him. "It's okay. You'll be okay, Ed."

"But will you?" Ed whispered, clutching Kaylen's shirt tightly. Kaylen bit her lip and buried her face in Ed's hair.

"As long as you are," she replied quietly, a tear creeping down her cheek.


	38. Evil Revealed

Chapter 38

I have no witty comments. So just read the damn chapter.

--

As soon as Ed and Kaylen had regained thier composure, they got to work at the clue.

"What's at the center of this town?" Ed asked, picking at the last line of the poem.

"Actually, Saint Helen's is at the center. To be specific, I think it's the border between us and Bartholemew's. That's where ARL is."

"ARL?" Ed had been on campus for a whole semester and was enraged that there were still things for him to learn about this place.

"The Alchemy Research Lab," Kaylen said. "You've seen it, right? We share it with the boys. Only our seniors and the talented alchemists are allowed in."

"Well, that's our place," Ed said, standing and changing.

"Ed, wait..." Kaylen said softly, tugging on Ed's sleeve. Ed turned to the girl, a fire in his eyes that she'd never seen before. _They made the worst move possible by taking Al,_ she thought. _Al gives him the most drive. He'll be harder to beat this way._

Ed suddenly leaned forward and kissed Kaylen gently. "You don't have to come."

"Shut up," Kaylen said roughly. "I'm coming."

They began the journey to the boundary line, to ARL, to Alphonse. It began to rain again about halfway there, rain soaking their clothes and bodies. Kaylen began to shiver from the cold seepling into her skin, so Ed offered his coat to her. She gave him a cold stare and shoved the coat away, wraping her arms around herself tightly.

Night was slowly falling over them, the sky turning a pinkish color as the sun went down. ARL was getting closer, and Ed stared in awe at the building. It was larger than any lab he'd ever seen; if he wasn't on a manhunt he'd love to see the inside. Kaylen grabbed Ed's hand as they reached the entrance, and Ed smiled at her.

"No turning back now," he said. Kaylen kissed him lightly on the cheek and opened the door, revealing the large inside. They stepped inside and found no one—the lab seemed empty at first. Ed ran into the gigantic building, yelling and calling for his brother.

Nothing.

"He's here. He has to be," Kaylen said softly.

"Maybe they've..." Ed stopped, lost in the horror of his thoughts. _Maybe they've killed him already..._ Behind him, he heard Kaylen running, and he turned to see her climbing the stairs.

"This building has three stories," she said. "Maybe they're on the second floor." Ed followed her up the stairs to the second level, a look of determination on his face.

"Alphonse!" Ed called out. This time he heard a response, but it seemed to be light years away. Kaylen frowned; she didn't know where it was coming from either.

"I'll go up another flight. You can look around here," she said before taking off up the stairs. Ed explored the second floor, yelling out for his brother, but found nothing. He didn't even get a response.

Angered, he charged up the stairs, now searching for Al and Kaylen both; she had disappeared as well. He took a deep breath and pushed all of his luck on the hope that he'd find someone—anyone—on the last floor.

"Al! Kay!" Ed called, running off of the stairs and into the room that was the third floor. What he saw stopped him dead in his tracks.

Al was sitting in the far corner, but it wasn't the Al that Ed was used to. A boy of fifteen was staring back at him, eyes wide with the hope that he was finally saved. He was bound by chains to the wall behind him and looked like he couldn't even breathe—the chains were wrapped _that_ tight.

"Brother!" Al called, his voice sounding solid and forceful. Ed rushed over to the boy, clapping his hands on the way with intentions of getting his brother out of those chains.

"Oh, no..." a wicked-sounding voice called from behind Ed. The room began to glow a red-looking color, and a shock of pain brought Ed to his knees. He turned to see the first and last person he ever would've suspected.

" ing ..." Ed said through clenched teeth, pain still racking his body immobile.

Professor Lore was smiling at him, a deep red stone glowing in his hand. Behind him stood Jaysen, who was holding to a bound and gagged Kaylen. Ed could see the fear in her eyes—it only made him want to hurt them even more.

"At last, we meet under these circumstances, Edward," Nolan cackled, an odd smile on his lips. "Like what we did for your brother? This stone is _real._ We've proved that already, though... Finally we'll be able to bring my father back..." He turned to Jaysen. "What should we do to the girl, Jaysen?"

"Oh..." Jaysen looked at Kaylen with an uneasy stare; she stared back, scared to death of what he would say. "Maybe we should just make it quick."

"No torture?" Nolan asked. "Is that how I raised you?"

Kaylen's eyes widened at these words. She knew that Jaysen had been adopted when he was thirteen—it was the whole reason he lived alone—but she hadn't known that he was adopted by the Lore family. He'd kept his own last name of Roberts and refused to talk about his new family.

"You didn't raise me, Dad," Jaysen said coldly. "Kaylen doesn't deserve this."

"Just be glad I'm not asking you to kill that little bitch Celeste," Nolan replied, and Jaysen balled his hands into fists. Anger was obvious in his eyes, but he said nothing.

"Brother! Brother, are you okay?" Al asked. "Can you move?"

"Of course he can't..." Nolan said, turning back to the Elric boys. Ed cringed as he felt another wave of pain come over him. "You boys shut up until I'm ready to deal with you." He turned back to Jaysen angrily.

"I don't want to kill her..." Jaysen said softly, looking at Kaylen with sad eyes. "You know, right? I don't want to..."

Kaylen nodded and tried to speak, her words lost in the cloth in her mouth.

"But you understand..." he pulled a gun from his coat pocket and held it to the side of Kaylen's head. "I don't have a choice..."

--

Not only am I notorious for my filler, but also for my cliffhangers! XD

I love you people!


	39. Battle at ARL

Chapter 39

I made cell phones be availiable back then in this chapter. So sue me.

--

Amie and Celeste were sitting alone in their dorm room, staring at the walls silently. It seemed there was nothing better to do—it was a cold, rainy day, after all.

"Maybe we should pester the lovebirds..." Celeste mumbled.

"Now you're thinking," Amie said with a smile. She walked to the door between their room and the other, pressing an ear to it.

Silence. Why was that scaring her?

"Erm...Hello?" Amie called into the empty room once the door was open.

Still silence.

"What the hell?" she said, facing Celeste. "They're gone."

"Well, they did get a clue today," Celeste said quietly. "It was a simple one, too. Maybe they're close to the end."

"That's no fun..." Amie said, sitting down on the bed. "They could've told us if they were leaving."

"Oh well," Celeste said. "You think Jaysen's back home yet?"

"Did he go somewhere?" Amie asked.

"To his family's for Christmas..." Celeste said, picking up her phone and searching for Jaysen's apartment number.

"I don't keep up with him," Amie said, and Celeste sighed loudly.

"He's not there," she said. "I'll call his cell, then..."

--

There was a sudden ringing in the alchemy research lab. The look on Jaysen's face was priceless as he took the gun from Kaylen's head and pulled the phone out of his pocket.

"Celeste? I'm kinda busy," he said quietly into the phone.

Kaylen started to yell, muffled words being all that was heard. Ed started yelling wildly as well, calling out to the girl as loud as he could.

"What? No one's yelling..." Jaysen said, inching away from the scene.

"Get back here, you coward!!" Ed yelled.

On the phone, Celeste asked, "Was that Ed? Are you with Ed and Kaylen?"

"Celeste! We're at ARL!" Ed yelled, hoping that she could hear him. "Help!"

Jaysen shut the phone, angered, and looked at Nolan.

"Shut that bastard's mouth," he said evily. Nolan smiled and brandished the stone in his hands.

"Now you're talking," he said, and the room lit up bright red.

"Brother!" Ed heard Al call before the pain hit again. This time it was much worse than before, immobilizing every inch of his body, causing him to hit the floor helplessly. A scream was all he could manage as the pain seeped into him, almost crushing his bones.

Kaylen whimpered at Jaysen's side, watching her lover get tortured out of his mind. She pulled on her restraints, trying wildly to get to Ed, but failing horribly. Jaysen was holding to her with a deathgrip—she couldn't break free. Al sat quietly on the back wall, eyes glued to his brother in horror. These people had kidnapped him, created him human out of power, and now were _torturing_ Ed.

Something was terribly wrong with this picture.

Al suddenly looked down at his hands, a thought entering his head. _I should be able to do alchemy without a circle, right?_ He clapped his hands together and grabbed the chains around him tightly. _Please work._

Al stood up as the restraints fell to the floor around him in a pile of cold metal. With quick thinking he transmuted them into a blade and ran at Nolan. The room lost it's red tint as Nolan dodged Al's blow. The pain was being lifted off of Ed, and he was slowly able to move again. Once he trusted his legs to stand, he got up and transmuted his automail into a blade with intentions of fighting Jaysen.

Al swiped at Jaysen's pale face instead, a steady flow of blood seeping from the cut.

"You're dead," he said quietly. He had a blade of his own concealed in his coat, and he began to fight with Al. Kaylen was now free to move, and Ed ran over to her, undoing her restrainsts with alchemy.

"I want you to get out of here," he said in a hurried, breathless whisper. "Go back to the dorm as fast as you can. Get Celeste and Amie if they're on their way."

Kaylen didn't argue. There wasn't any time to argue.

She headed down the stairs, running as fast as her body would take her. Instead of leaving like Ed had commanded, she sat down on the cold floor of the ground level of the building. A tear slid down her cheek, and she buried her face in her hands.

_I didn't say 'I love you'..._It sounded kind of dumb resounding in her head, but she wanted Ed to know she did in case they never met again. They had been through so much, all the pain and all the happiness, and there was no doubt in her mind that this was love.

There was also no doubt that this was the worst possible time to realize it.

She looked over at one of the desks to see familliar looking pages. The last two document pages. Kaylen went to get them and sat down with intentions of reading them. She didn't have anything better to do, anyway.

Back upstairs, Ed had been fighting with Nolan, annoyed with the man's agility. _He has to be like 40...how's he so damn fast?_

Nolan was also getting annoyed, but for a different reason. _Why don't I just kill him and get this over with?_ He touched the stone, and the room glowed bright red for the last time.


	40. Broken

Chapter 40

:D yay.

--

"What's going on?" Amie asked as Celeste pulled her down the stairs of the dorm.

"That was definitely Ed..." Celeste muttered to herself. "Why is Jaysen there? He can't be the one causing all of this..."

"What?" Amie asked. "Explain this to me!"

"We don't have time!" Celeste said loudly. "Ed and Kaylen are in danger! They need us!" Amie looked at Celeste with wide eyes and followed her, unsure of where they were going.

--

Nolan's stone's power had been used up. The energy in the stone backfired on him, exploding in his hand. Ed and Al instinctively ran to the nearest window, and, without thinking, jumped out. They had seen fake stones backfire before, and even _they _had caused serious damage. The lab was going down in ruins, and they both knew it.

Thankfully, they both hit the ground unharmed, and the building came down soon afterwards. Ed stood up, his muscles sore and aching, but he still had the energy to help his brother up and hug him. Flesh and blood hugged him back; there was no more metal, no more armor. Al was _real_ for the first time in four long years.

They were _done_.

"Ed!!" Celeste called out to Ed. Ed looked up to see her and Amie running wildly towards him. Celeste almost fell over when she reached Ed, breathing heavily.

"This is...your brother?" Amie asked, gesturing to Al. Ed nodded wearily, smiling as Celeste looked at Al.

"He's cute," she said, and Al felt himself blush for the first time in a long time.

"Where's Kaylen?" Al asked the girls.

"She's not with you?" Amie asked, and Ed's eyes widened.

"No, Brother told her to go back," Al said, looking at Ed with concerned eyes. Ed turned around and rushed back to the pile of rubble that was the building, tears stinging at his eyes. Acting on impulse, he started to dig at the ruins, tossing random parts aside.

"Kaylen! Kay!!" he called, his throat scratchy and dry from all of the yelling he had done tonight. Al joined his brother in his search, using alchemy to move parts of the rubble. Ed finally wrapped his head around what he needed to do and started to use alchemy as well.

Finally, they heard a tiny scream, a yell for help. They began to work faster, dig deeper. Ed almost collapsed when he saw Kaylen. Somehow she had managed to twist her body around so that she didn't receive any fatal blows, but she still looked horrible.

She looked like everything was broken.

Ed pulled her up and held her close, crying silently. Kaylen pulled back wearily, waving two sheets of paper in her hands.

"I saved...the pages..." she said, a tired, weary smile on her lips.

"You're _so_ fucking stupid, Kaylen," Ed said, smiling and unsure why. "And I love you..."

"...love...you..." Kaylen fell into Ed's arms again, limp and tired. Ed picked her up and handed the document pages to Al.

"Show me to the nurse," Ed said quietly. "She's dying."

---

The nurse called the hospital as soon as she saw Kaylen, and an ambulance was sent immediately. They were later informed that she had broken seventeen bones and was lucky to be alive; one of her ribs had slid by her heart, making the beat slightly irregular.

Ed and Al practically lived at the hospital for the next month. Kaylen was always tired and never seemed to remember where she was or what had happened the day before. Some days she woke up and asked Ed who he was.

Al called Ms. Osdal every day, informing her of how Kaylen as doing. He always asked her not to come out—he didn't want her to feel the pain of her daughter asking who she was. It was one night in February when Ed was saying goodnight to Kaylen when she finally regained her stable mind.

"What's today?" she asked Ed, who was walking out the door.

"Oh...February 6th," Ed replied, coming back into the room. "Why?"

She looked at Ed with wide eyes. "How long have I been in here?"

"About a month," Ed said softly, sitting back down by the bed.

"A whole month? I've been loopy and crazy and I don't even know what I've been saying, Ed!" Kaylen frowned and shook her head. "I don't even know who I am..."

"But you remember me now..." Ed said, smiling.

"You're joking..." Kaylen looked at Ed with tears in her eyes. "I _forgot_ you?!" she tried to sit up but fell back, tears escaping from her eyes as she hit the bed in pain.

"Don't move anymore," Ed said a bit too late. "You're a glass doll right now. You could rebreak something."

"What happened to those other two?" she asked, her voice bordering a whisper.

"They died. The explosion blew them to bits," Ed said, suprised at Kaylen's reaction; she was almost sad looking.

"Then why do I deserve to live?" she said, morbid thoughts spilling into words.

"Kaylen...We've worked our asses off for months now. I think life is the least of what you deserve for seeing this thing through," Ed said, gripping her hand tightly. "I'm sorry. It's all my fault that you're like this..."

"Ed..." Kaylen was unable to move her left arm, so she reached for Ed with her right, letting it run down his face, through his hair, down to his chest. "I owe you one. I would've died in there if you didn't come after me."

"Why didn't you leave like I told you to?" Ed asked.

"I didn't want to leave you..." she replied in a soft voice. "I never want to leave you..." She reached out and pulled his face down to hers, kissing him lightly at first. Ed was careful about where he placed his hands, trying not to cause Kaylen any discomfort.

"Um...bad timing?" Al had entered the room and was standing awkwardly at the door.

"Al!" Kaylen exclaimed as Ed sat back down. "Come here and let me look at you."

Al complied with her request, spinning in a model-like fashion as he crossed the room. He took Kaylen's hand when he reached the bed and brought it to his lips quickly.

"How may I be of service?" he asked, smiling.

"Well, you're doing pretty good right now," Kaylen laughed. "God...You're _gorgeous..._"

"Stop..." Al said, blushing slightly. He wasn't sure he could take all of these comments about how good he looked—it was eating at his modesty.

"You can go back to the hotel, Al," Ed whispered, stroking Kaylen's face with his left hand. "I'm gonna stay here tonight."

Al nodded. "I'm glad you're feeling better, Kaylen."

"Yeah, go get some sleep," Kaylen said, waving a hand at Al as he left the room. She looked back at Ed to see him falling asleep in the chair, head cocked to one side. She smiled to herself and shut her eyes, slowly drifting off to sleep.


	41. Endlessly

Chapter 41

A/N: This is the last chapter of SGA! I know, it came too soon! (actually it didn't...) Love to all of you who walked on this journey with me and those who read every step of the way.

Music: AFI—"Endlessly, She Said"

--

The next morning Kaylen woke up to see Ed at her side, still in the position she'd left him in the night before. She studied his gorgeous features, which seemed to absorb the sunlight that was steadily pouring into the room. She had never realized just how _handsome_ he was, but now as she lay there with nothing else on her mind, she wondered how she could have ever overlooked it.

"Hmm? Morning?" Ed mumbled, squinting against the sunlight. He smiled at Kaylen and kissed her, lips lingering, waiting for another kiss. Kaylen shivered suddenly; Ed's automail had brushed against her arm. Ed sat back in his chair, an odd smile on his lips. "I haven't woken up to that face in a while..."

"Yeah..." Kaylen looked away frowning, a sad look in her eyes. "So when are you leaving for Central?"

"Not until you get well enough to leave here," Ed said softly. "I'm not gonna leave you like this..."

"I'm touched, but you know you can go ahead if you want," Kaylen said, looking at Ed.

"Sure. But I want to stay," Ed said, grabbing Kaylen's hand. He ran his fingers down her palm, her wrist. "I don't wan't to leave you...but I don't really have a choice."

---

Kaylen got well enough to move around in the next week, healing quicker now that she had a head on her shoulders. They finally sent her home with bottles upon bottles of pain pills and an appointment two weeks later. She couldn't go back to school for the rest of the semester and was forced to be homebound.

Ed and Al went back to Mascradé with Kaylen, keeping her company for another week. The day of their departure came too soon, Ed decided as they stood at the train station again. Kaylen stood in front of him, her arm in a sling and her chest bandaged underneath her shirt, yet she was smiling.

"You guys have fun," Kaylen said, laughter in her voice.

_I expected her to be crying...Is she really this happy about us leaving?_ Ed wondered, staring at Kaylen with wide eyes.

"Take care of yourself, Kaylen," Al said, smiling as well. He placed his arms around the fragile girl carefully, trying not to cause her any pain.

"You too," Kaylen replied, kissing Al on the cheek. "Sorry, I've always wanted to do that." Al blushed, a light pink coloring his face. Kaylen laughed, and soon Al joined her.

Ed found himself smiling despite the sadness he felt. He had been with this girl for every day of his life since last August, and leaving her would be like falling asleep in a different bed—he wouldn't be able to get used to it. Al tapped Ed on the arm and smiled.

"Try not to take too long, Brother," he said. "Don't miss the train when you're standing right there." Ed nodded wearily, and Al turned to board the train.

Kaylen was still smiling despite the tears rolling down her cheeks. She tugged at her sling until it fell off and wrapped her arms around Ed tightly, as though if she held him long enough he'd stay with her.

"Stop, you'll hurt your arm," Ed said softly, but the girl shook her head. She buried her face beween her arms and Ed's neck, tears that had been kept back in front of Al finally released. Ed felt tears come to his own eyes, but he refused them exit.

This wasn't goodbye. He was sure of it.

"I'll be back, Kaylen," he whispered, kissing her neck lightly. "Stop crying...I want to remember you smiling." Kaylen stepped back and smiled at Ed, wiping tears off her face.

"I'm sorry," she said. "I'm..." she bit her lip, not able to say what she wanted to.

"But that doesn't mean that I won't miss you," Ed said, taking Kaylen's hands in his own. "I will. I'm gonna miss you so much."

"I'll miss you too," Kaylen said softly, "and I love you. I hate those words, but they're true."

"Same," Ed said. "Sometimes you hate the truth though, right?"

A train whistle blew behind them as they kissed, a deep, intimate gesture of their pain and love. Ed looked at Kaylen sadly as he got on the train, dragging his suitcase behind him. Another whistle blew, and the conductor started to close the doors.

"Wait! I said _wait_, dammit!!" An oddly familliar voice yelled from behind Kaylen. She turned to see who was yelling and almost collapsed.

Iann Lauriot was running toward the train.

He would've made it if he hadn't stopped suddenly, dead in his tracks. His stared at Kaylen with wide eyes, mouth slightly open.

"K-kaylen?!" he stammered, dumbstruck. The train sped off, and Iann turned his attention back to the moving train. "Hey! Wait!" He started to run after it, but decided it was too far away already. "Shit..."

Kaylen couldn't find her voice. She didn't know whether to run away or beat the crap out of this boy, but it didn't really matter—she was glued to the spot. She pulled her sling back over her shoulder and started to turn and walk away, but she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. The familliar scent of Iann returned, and she could feel the connection between them.

_I can't run away anymore._

"Hey, I...um..." Iann's voice drifted off, and Kaylen turned to look at the boy. He hadn't changed much—his hair was a little shorter and he was a few inches taller, but other than that he looked like the same old Iann.

"What?" Kaylen asked, gazing at Iann with an empty stare. Iann couldn't look her in the eyes; instead he looked at the ground.

"What I mean to say is...I'm sorry," Iann said gently, readjusting the strap on his shoulder. "I've been thinking about you lately, and I came back to see you...but I guess I chickened out. I'm sorry for being a coward and waiting so long to come home."

"Really?" Kaylen asked. "You can still call this place home?"

"Yeah. It's all I've ever known after all," he said, finally looking up at Kaylen. "You broke your arm?"

"No, I'm just wearing this as a fashion statement," Kaylen said sarcastically. Iann smiled and pulled a cigarette from his pocket.

"You're such a loser," he laughed as he lit the cigarette in his mouth, blowing smoke into the air. "Fall out of a tree?"

"Something like that. So where were you headed?" Kaylen asked.

"Central. The State Alchemy exam is in two days, and I think I'm ready," Iann replied, and Kaylen frowned suddenly. "But forget it now, I missed the damn train."

"You can just take the next one," Kaylen pointed out. Iann smiled, his gorgeous eyes glowing.

"You never could take a hint," he said. "You going back to your place?"

"Yeah..." Kaylen said as Iann placed his face close to hers and smiled.

"Mind if I come along?"

--End

_Notes_: My apologies to all the EdxWinry and EdxKay fans. I guess nobody won this one.

I also apologize for the first 30 chapters. I've grown as a writer durring this fic, so it burns my eyes to go back and read chapter one. ((gags))

Don't forget to review so you can cuss me out for that ending!

And be looking for the companion. I know, this is gonna drag on _forever..._


End file.
